


Secret Language of Blooms and Love

by etextraordinary



Category: Glee
Genre: Blaine Big Bang, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-26
Updated: 2012-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-11 13:34:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etextraordinary/pseuds/etextraordinary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaine is a florist in New York City. His shop specializes in the Victorian art of floriography, the language of flowers. Blane makes sure that each of his arrangements is both beautiful and portrays the correct meaning. Kurt has Blaine do his wedding flowers, but he is not expecting his entire life to change. Based on the movie Imagine Me and You.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lavender Rose

Blaine had his back to the door when the cool spring air hit the back of his neck and the chimes above the door signaled that a customer had come into the shop. Blaine was the owner and manager of a small, but well-known florist shop in Manhattan, _Floriography_. Blaine had changed the name when he bought it, because he was a firm believer in the somewhat old fashioned language of flowers, and every one of his bouquets expressed a message that the giver wanted. He didn’t just pair the flowers together because they looked pretty; he made sure that the meaning was also correct. This meant, of course, that he had a wide variety of flowers in stock all the time, and that he had exotic flowers that were sometimes trickier to find elsewhere in the city. He supposed this is why his shop is so well known.

Before he could turn around, he was aware of the customer’s presence, because he was talking very loudly on his cell phone.

“No, six o’clock won’t work, I need to get the designs to the client by four so she can approve them today and the dress will be ready for the event on Sunday. I need them by three pm at the latest. “ He paused briefly, listening to whoever was on the other end, “If you are unable to do it, then I will take my business elsewhere. Good, I will let you know the selection by the end of the day today.” He pulled his phone away from his ear, pressing the end button and looking up at Blaine’s shop, as if he wasn’t sure how he got there.

Blaine watched him, admiring the man’s skin tight pants and neatly put together shirt, vest, and bowtie combination. The man had perfect hair, swept off his face elegantly. Blaine’s expression was a mixture of shock and confusion. He shook his head slightly, clearing all of the inappropriate things he’d like to do to this man from his head, “Welcome to Floriography, how can I help you?”

“I’m Kurt, Kurt Hummel, I have an appointment this afternoon to look at wedding arrangements. I think I have an appointment with someone named Blaire. Is she in?”

“Blaine? That’s me. I’m actually the only one who works here.”

“Blaine, its nice to meet you!” Kurt extended his hand and gripped Blaine’s firmly.

Blaine couldn’t help but think of how great it would be to have his fingers carding through the man, Kurt’s, soft hair. Blaine mentally kicked himself; this man was here because he was looking at floral arrangements for his wedding. That makes him very _very_ off limits.

“Nice to meet you too, Kurt. Would you like to come back into my office? We can have a closer look at the flowers and figure out exactly what you want for the ceremony.”

Blaine let Kurt back into his workspace, which was crowded with buckets of flowers, spools of ribbon, and a tiny desk that was covered in multi-colored post-its and a laptop, playing Pandora.

Kurt sat down across from Blaine, pulling a sleek black portfolio out of his bag and opening it up to take notes. Blaine opened up his catalogue that also served as a reference guide for all the different meanings of flowers placing the book between them.

“So, is the bride also coming, or…?” Blaine trailed off.

“No. There is no bride; I’m gay. And my partner, Troy, can’t make it, he’s on a business trip in London.”

“Oh, ok, great.” When Kurt looked slightly confused by Blaine’s response; he added, “I’m gay too. Not that it makes a difference, just…”

Kurt laughed, “Then we already have something in common.” He paused briefly before adding, “I was thinking for the arrangements on either side of the arbor, we could do some lovely hydrangeas. I love the round shape and how full they always look.”

Blaine laughed lightly, “Right to work. Also, no. No hydrangeas at a wedding.”

“Excuse me? Why can’t there be hydrangeas at a wedding?”

“Kurt, you don’t know what the name of my shop means, do you?”

“Uh… no. Why does it matter?” Kurt was now visibly offended.

Blaine smiled, “Floriography is the language of flowers. It is a late 19th century tradition, in which all flowers have a meaning, and bouquets would be given to express a secret meaning. All of my arrangements use this old tradition and have a meaning. You don’t want hydrangeas at a wedding, because they mean frigidness or heartlessness. I don’t think that is the message you want to send to the guy you’re marrying.”

It was then that Kurt laughed, high and light but Blaine could tell that it was genuine. “So you know this language of flowers?”

“Yeah, my grandma taught me when I was younger.”

“Ok, so what does,“ Kurt picked up a Gerber daisy from the table, “this mean?”

Blaine took the flower gently from him, “Gerber daisies mean cheerfulness. They are one of my favorites, because they just look so happy. And this one here,” Blaine wheeled his chair over to a bucket on the far side of the room, pulling a white and purple dahlia out, “is my favorite flower. It means dignity and elegance. Which just seems to fit the flower, don’t you think?”

Kurt took the stem and looked at it closely, “The petals are so symmetrical, it’s beautiful.” Kurt looked up at Blaine, “Yeah, it does seem very dignified and elegant. I think this might be my new favorite flower.”

Blaine smiled, “So what kind of message would you like to send at your wedding?”

They worked for almost an hour, Kurt listing adjectives and thoughts about Troy and their relationship. Blaine searched through his book, finding flowers to match Kurt’s descriptions and pairing them together. When the front door of the shop opened, it startled both of them, and only then did Kurt look down at his phone, realizing that he was going to be late to his next meeting if he didn’t leave right away.

Blaine went up to the front of the shop to help the customer with a bouquet for his ill grandmother, daisies and coreopsis, faith and cheer. Kurt smiled as Blaine explained what the flowers mean to the man and moved to leave. Blaine called before he could reach the door, “Wait, just a minute, Kurt.”

Blaine quickly wrapped the flowers, the man paid and left. Kurt was about to say something when Blaine handed him a lavender rose. “This is for you.”

“What does it mean?” Kurt asked, smelling the flower.

Blaine smiled, “This one is my favorite meaning, but I never thought I’d be able to use it. I’m glad you finally gave me a chance to.”

“But…” Kurt started.

“I’ll let you figure it out on your own. I’ll be in touch in a couple of months when everything is closer and I can let you know more exactly what I’ll have in stock for September 9th. And if you need a special bouquet to take to Troy, just let me know.”

Kurt was still smiling and smelling the rose as he walked out of the shop into the cool March air.

Blaine walked back to his workroom and banged his head against his desk. How could he give a client who’s wedding flowers he is arranging a flower meaning love at first sight. Blaine sighed he was smitten.

No, he was fucked.


	2. Yellow Rose

The day of Kurt's wedding was a flurry of activity at the shop. Blaine had picked up all the flowers at the wholesale market early that morning and started pairing the tasteful arrangements that were for either side of the arbor. They had decided to go with colorful Gerber daisies and chrysanthemums, cheerfulness and ‘I love’, a bold mix of reds and purples. Then each of the groom's boutonniere was a bright red rose with a sprig of honeysuckle leaves, devotion. Then Blaine had put together small arrangements for the center of the tables of white phlox heads and white candles floating on dyed teal water. They would work perfectly as a touch of color with the white and teal linens Kurt picked, and the white twinkle lights strung around the room.

It was nearly noon before Blaine had everything in his van to take over to Kurt's 3pm wedding. He had just enough time to get to the site, set everything up and be gone before the ceremony started. Blaine hadn't seen Kurt since he'd come into the shop in March, although they had talked on the phone a number of times. Sometimes to discuss the wedding arrangements another time, Kurt had called to order a bouquet for Troy, but he had never once mentioned the lavender rose, Blaine wasn't sure if it was because he never deciphered the meaning, or what; but the distance had done nothing but make Blaine want Kurt more, even if they could only ever be friends.

Of course, he was happy for the wedding; he had to be, considering they made up 75% of his business. But he couldn't help being a little jealous of the amazing man that Troy must be if he was marrying Kurt. (Although he secretly hoped he was ugly, or fat, or had a weird laugh, or something that would make himself feel just a little superior.)

Blaine had no such luck. The first time Blaine met Troy was as he was pinning the flower on his jacket, and of course he was perfect, or as far as Blaine could see. He then went into Kurt's dressing room and was immediately wrapped up by strong arms in a very large hug from Kurt.

"Thank you so much, they are beautiful. I just went out and saw all the arrangements, I absolutely love the centerpieces you made, they are enchanting. Thank you, Blaine. You are a genius."

Blaine blushed slightly under all of Kurt's compliments. "It was my pleasure. Now let's get this on your jacket, so you can go get married."

Blaine picked up the flower and stepped in to his personal space pin it to Kurt; he could smell his cologne, masculine with just a hint of flower, it suited him perfectly. Blaine took a deep breath to steady himself so he didn't prick Kurt win the pin. He heard Kurt sigh above him before whispering, "Thank you for the flower."

Blaine looked up in confusion and Kurt added, "Lavender roses have always been one of my favorite flowers."

Blaine stood there shocked, and Kurt adjusted his jacket in the mirror one last time before turning to leave the room, "I hope you were going to stay for the ceremony, I want you to hear the praise you are going to get about your flowers."

"Kurt, I..." Blaine started.

"You deserve all the praise, please stay."

Blaine was powerless to do anything but stay, so he did.

***  
The ceremony was simple and Kurt was beaming, and looked handsome. Blaine was really and truly smitten.

One thing Blaine really loved about their wedding was that it was traditional, yet non-traditional at the same time. Kurt and Troy each had groomsmen-but they were not all male-they both had a mixture of men and women at their sides. Kurt’s ‘best women’ were his best friends from high school, Rachel and Mercedes, and then his stepbrother and college roommate. Troy had his brother and sister and two of his fraternity brothers. And rather than having one of the grooms waiting up at the front, they were both led up by their parents–first Kurt then Troy. Alphabetical, one of the best women, he thought her name was Rachel, informed him.

Blaine snuck out of his seat in the back row to get into the reception hall a few minutes before the guests to make sure that all the flowers were still floating and were slowly absorbing the coloring. The tips of the pedals were turning a pale teal but the inside remained a pure white. Kurt hadn’t seen the slow change yet, and Blaine had a feeling he was going to love it. Blaine mentally kicked himself for that thought and the fact that he thought he knew this man, who he had met exactly twice, one of which was just a few hours earlier.

Blaine tried to sneak out of the reception after checking that everything was set, but the guests were starting to filter in, and one of the groomsmen stopped him, saying that Kurt said he would kill him if Blaine left. Blaine sat quietly through the speeches, Troy’s brother and sister telling embarrassing stories of how the couple met and all of Kurt’s groom-persons singing a great a capella version of “Not the Boy Next Door”, which made Kurt blush all the way down to his collar. Blaine couldn’t help but smile, and wonder if Kurt would blush on his chest too. Then he found himself wondering if Kurt’s nipples were sensitive, and he had to stop himself otherwise that train of thought was going to get very inappropriate very quickly.

Blaine excused himself to the bathroom, and when he returned, Kurt and Troy were sharing their first dance. Blaine busied himself at the punch bowl, filling cups for all of the little kids. Suddenly there was a tap at his shoulder and he whipped around, nearly flinging the ladle and covering Kurt in bright red punch.

“Careful, this suit is one-of-a-kind.” Kurt said laughing. Blaine wasn’t sure he would be laughing if someone nearly stained his wedding suit, but Blaine also figured that Kurt had had a few glasses of champagne.

“I’m so sorry, Kurt. I didn’t hit you, did I?”

Kurt glanced down, “Nope, looks like you got lucky.”

“The ceremony was beautiful. Everyone loved it.”

“Thank you. It wouldn’t have been half as beautiful without your brilliant floral arranging skills. I have heard nothing but compliments about the flowers; everyone is saying how innovative your designs are. “

“They are your words. I just find the right flowers to express them,” Blaine said, blushing slightly.

Kurt touched Blaine’s arm, sending electric energy all through him, “No, Blaine, you truly have a gift. I have already recommended you to Mercedes, who is getting married next year, although she lives out west.”

“I’d be happy to meet with her and at least consult with her florist, it’s hard to do distance weddings.”

Kurt smiled again, and Blaine couldn’t help but smile back at him, the way his real smiles light up his face and eyes was infectious. Suddenly, there was a man standing behind Kurt, putting his hand on his shoulder; Blaine had to actively stop himself from brushing his hand off.

“There you are, honey.”

Kurt turned around, startled, then realizing it was his husband, kissed him. “Have you met Blaine, our florist?”

Troy turned his attention to Blaine, “I believe we briefly met earlier. The flowers look great, thank you.”

Blaine plastered on his best fake smile, “Of course, my pleasure. Congratulations.”

Troy squeezed Kurt’s shoulder, “I want to dance with my husband, come on.” He pulled Kurt back to the dance floor.

Blaine nodded and turned around to leave, he couldn’t watch any more. At least now he would have plenty of time to get over Kurt, or so he thought.

***  
A few weeks later, on a slow Wednesday afternoon, Blaine was paging through his grandmother’s old book that served more or less as a dictionary of flower meanings. Blaine knew most of them now, but sometimes when a customer requested something a little more obscure than love, apology, or condolence, he looked up the meaning. Or on an afternoon like this one, when he was just bored and trying to get inspired to create something beautiful.

The chimes sounded as someone walked in. Marking his spot in the book, Blaine started, “Welcome to Flor… Kurt! Its great to see you! What can I get for you?”

“Hi, Blaine. I wanted to stop by and thank you again for the wonderful work you did for my wedding. Rachel and Mercedes can’t stop raving about the flowers!”

“You’re welcome. Just doing my job. Glad to know that you liked them.”

Kurt stepped up to the counter, leaning on it slightly, his fingers resting just centimeters from Blaine’s. Blaine swore he could feel heat radiating off, but that isn’t possible. Blaine wanted to move his hand and close the short distance and hold Kurt’s long elegant hand in his own, but each centimeter felt like miles.

Blaine cleared his throat before asking, “How was your honeymoon?”

Kurt blinked and slightly shook his head, looking like he is trying to clear his head of whatever thought was there, “It was great. Troy and I took two weeks off, the first time either of us have taken more than just a day or two in row in over a year. We went to Paris and then traveled around a bit in the south of France for the second week. It was great.”

“I’m so glad to hear it.” Blaine smiled, he truly felt happy for Kurt. “So, what brings you in on this lovely Wednesday afternoon?”

“I can’t just stop by to chat with my favorite florist?”

Blaine laughed, “Of course you can. What did you want to chat about?”

“Well, actually, I wanted to invite you to Troy and my annual Halloween party. It’s a bunch of our friends, all dressed up getting entirely too drunk and then usually making bad life decisions.”

Blaine smiled, “Sounds fun. When is it?”

“Saturday, the 27th. Party starts about 9 or so, but if you want to come by a few minutes early, I’d love it if you brought a centerpiece for the table. That’s actually the other thing I wanted to discuss.”

“Great! What were you thinking? Fall colors, reds, oranges, yellows?” Blaine started to work out which ones had meanings that would be appropriate.

“More reds and oranges than yellows, yellow always felt like a spring color to me.”

“I agree.” Blaine walked out from behind the counter, bringing his book with him to show Kurt what he was thinking. “Ranunculus mean ‘you are radiant with charms’, burgundy roses are ‘unconscious beauty’, quince meaning ‘temptation’, some thorn apple leaves meaning ‘disguise’ and protea are lovely reddish flowers meaning ‘courage’.”

“Wow. I never thought it would be possible to capture a drunken Halloween party in flowers, but you seem to have done it. I’m impressed. Next time I am going to have to try harder to stump you.”

Blaine grinned, “Do your worst, Kurt.”

Kurt smiled back, “Alright, how about something simple for tonight?”

“What do you have in mind?”

Kurt looked around the shop, gently touching some of the petals, Begonias, caution; Tulips, declaration of love; and Sunflowers, pure thoughts, Blaine nearly started laughing at the interesting, yet terrifyingly accurate meaning Kurt just pointed out. Blaine wondered briefly if there was some other power at work, but quickly let that idea drop when he saw what Kurt stopped in front of, daffodils.

“I know they are a spring flower, but they just look so happy. What do they mean?” Kurt lifted one of the flowers out of the water.

“New beginnings.” Blaine lied, well not exactly, he just omitted the other meaning. Unrequited love, it just seemed a little too accurate to share.

“I’ll take a bouquet of them, then.”

“Perfect.” Blaine pulled a large bunch of flowers out of the water, taking them over to his worktable, “Just let me get them wrapped up for you.”

Blaine wrapped the yellow and white flowers in orange tissue paper before handing the bouquet to Kurt, “That’ll be $15.”

Kurt pulled a twenty out of his wallet and handed it over saying, “The rest is for you, because you are so brilliant.”

“Thank you so much, Kurt. I’ll see you a little before nine on the 27th then?”

Kurt smiled, “See you then.”

Blaine watched him leave, admiring Kurt’s ass and kicking himself for accepting the invitation. How could he go to a party at Kurt and Troy’s place, where there was going to be drinking and debauchery, and not want to push him up against the wall and kiss him senseless? Blaine thought about waiting a week, then calling and canceling, but the truth was, Halloween was his favorite non-working holiday, and he really liked creating costumes.

Another customer coming in to the shop startled him. Blaine would just have to be careful not to get too drunk. What could possibly go wrong?

***  
Blaine ended up calling Kurt the week of the party, asking for the address and if he could bring his friend, Wes along. Kurt was overly apologetic, saying he was sorry for forgetting to give him the address and assuming that Blaine didn’t have other plans and how foolish he was to assume that Blaine didn’t have a partner he wanted to bring. Blaine was stunned when Kurt babbled this out on the phone and neglected to correct him.

Blaine arrived at Kurt’s apartment about a half hour before the party started, wearing khaki pants, a white button down, suspenders, and a ridiculously large maroon and beige stripped tie. He was carrying the flowers, arranged in a low-standing vase was almost two feet long. Before he started the arrangement, Blaine wasn’t sure if the flowers were going to look good, but he somehow managed to pull off a non-ridiculous Halloween bouquet and even managed to make it look elegant and expensive. He had a feeling Kurt was going to love it, and if he happened to sneak in a coral rose, desire and passion, well sue him. Blaine knew that Kurt was off limits, totally and completely, but he wanted nothing more than to express how he felt towards him, with hopes that someday, maybe, they could be more. Of course every time he thought about it, he kicked himself, because Kurt was a happily married man, and he would be the last one to suggest cheating. Blaine was truly stuck.

When Troy opened the door to see Blaine and Wes standing there, he invited them in saying, “Blaine! It’s great to see you again. And this must be your boyfriend. I don’t believe we’ve met yet.”

Wes instantly turned red, and Blaine said, “Good to see you too, Troy, but Wes isn’t my boyfriend. Wes is married.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were married Blaine, that’s so great. We should go out on a double date sometime,” Troy said excitedly.

This time it was Wes that piped up, seeing how Blaine was redder than the large flower arrangement he was carrying. “No, I’m married to a woman, Sara, she is out of town on business; my oldest friend Blaine thought it was a travesty to be alone on Halloween.”

Just then Kurt walked in, wrapping an arm around Troy, in the middle of Wes’ sentence. Kurt was fully dressed in his costume, a bright red-stripped jacket, a red bowtie with white pants and matching shoes, and on his head was a straw boater hat with a red ribbon. He had a long staff in his hand.

Blaine nodded in Kurt’s direction, “Gene Kelly, An American in Paris?”

Kurt smiled and shook his head, “Robert Preston, The Music Man. Professor Harold Hill, at your service. Close though.” He bowed slightly to Blaine before turning to Troy and gently whacking him on the arm, “I told you we should have dressed up as Gene and Leslie.”

“And I told you, I refuse to wear a dress.”

Kurt smiled at him, “I know, I was mostly kidding.” He turned back to Blaine asking, “Are you a professor?”

“Nope, try again.”

“A nerd with 20/20 vision?”

Blaine laughed, “No.”

Troy leaned over and whispered in Kurt’s ear, then Kurt said, “My husband thinks you’re Indiana Jones.”

“Not exactly, close though. I’m just an every day archaeologist, not an adventure-seeking Nazi hunter. I am also not as good-looking as Harrison Ford! Look, I even brought props.” Blaine moved to set the flowers down on the table and pulled a green stuffed dinosaur out of the bag Wes was carrying. “See!”

Wes laughed, “You do realize its paleontologists that study dinosaurs not archaeologists, right?”

Blaine shrugged. “At least my costume is more creative than yours.”

“Excuse me, valedictorian is a great costume. Besides it is the only way I could justify the $75 that I had to pay for these robes.”

Everyone laughed. Soon, Troy excused himself to get dressed in his costume, Winthrop, the little boy with a lisp. Kurt took the flowers to the dining room and placed them at the center of the table, which was surrounded by plates of homemade snacks.

“Did you make all of these?” Blaine gestured towards the most delicious looking plate of bruschetta.

“No. Troy helped me with some of them, I made the sweet hors d’oeuvres and he made the savory ones. You should try one of his shrimp skewers; they are heavenly. It’s at least a third of the reason I married him.”

Wes laughed, “I know what you mean, Sara makes the best lasagna, it’s definitely half of the reason I married her. Right Blaine, you’ve had it?”

Blaine looked up to find both Kurt and Wes smiling at him, “Yeah, Sara is an excellent cook.”

Kurt, Blaine, and Wes chatted until the next set of guests arrived, then Kurt excused himself to go let them in, and of course, greet them with a chorus from the Music Man. As soon as he was out of earshot, Wes asked, “Kurt and Troy are pretty great, don’t you think?”

“Yeah they are, they are so cute together.” Blaine glanced to where Troy had joined Kurt at the door and they were singing Gary, Indiana together.

“How did you meet them again?”

“I did the flowers for their wedding, last month,” Blaine said, not looking away from the scene at the door, where some guests broke into song as well.

“And how long have you been in love with Kurt?” Wes asked quietly.

Blaine continued to watch the scene until Wes’ question fully sunk in; then he whipped his head around to look at him. “What?!”

“Answer the question.”

Blaine sighed heavily, “Since I first met him when he came in for a consultation in the spring.” Wes continued to look at him knowingly, which always made Blaine tell him the whole story, “I gave him a lavender rose, love at first sight. Am I really that obvious?”

Wes shook his head, “No you’re not. I don’t think either of them have any idea. But I’ve known you since Dalton, Blaine. I know what you look like when you are mooning over a boy, I’ve seen you do it enough. At least now, you aren’t trying to serenade them in their workplaces.”

“Hey. I thought you said you wouldn’t bring that up again.”

“Sorry,” Wes muttered. “Anyway, if he wasn’t married, I would say Kurt is perfect for you.”

“I know. Why are all the good ones married?”

“I suppose this is the actual pitfall of legalized gay marriage; now you have all the troubles us straight men have had for centuries.”

“Ha ha. Very funny,” Blaine said and walked away to go make some new friends, ones that wouldn’t make fun of him.

Blaine chatted with Kurt and Troy’s friends, discovering that quite a few of them went to high school with Kurt, and grew up not far from where Blaine lived as a child. They discovered that they had frequented some of the same places, The Lima Bean, it being the only decent non-chain coffee shop in town. They were all surprised that they had never met before. An hour later, Troy came over to Blaine, dragging Rachel by the arm.

“Blaine!” He said, excitedly. His excitement only served to make Blaine nervous.

“Hey, Troy. Great party. Everything is wonderful.”

“Good, glad you are enjoying yourself. There is someone here I want you to meet.” He pushed Rachel at him, nearly knocking her over. “This is Rachel, Kurt’s best friend. We think you two would get along great.” Tony winked at Blaine before turning around.

Blaine reached out his hand, “Rachel, its nice to meet you.”

Rachel took his hand and used it to pull him into an awkward hug, she was drunk enough to not be sure if they had met before or not. Blaine could smell the overly sweet alcohol she had been drinking all night mixing with her perfume. “So Blaine, what do you do?”

“I’m a florist. I own my own shop, Floriography. I specialize in making bouquets to express the giver’s meaning.” He gestured to the table, “I made the centerpiece for Kurt.”

Rachel looked from Blaine to the table before exclaiming, “That looks beautiful. What does it mean?”

Blaine detailed each of the flowers, pointing them out as he explained. Rachel kept her arm wrapped around Blaine’s, occasionally squeezing and keeping him close.

As soon as he was done talking, he tried to escape from Rachel’s grasp by using the bathroom, but as soon as he was out, she found him. She pulled him to her, spilling her bright red cocktail on his white shirt. Rachel starts to apologize profusely and began to dab at it with her napkin. Blaine took her hand, gently moving it away from him.

“Thank you for your help, Rachel. But I think I am going to go to the bathroom and try to wash it out.”

On his way to the bathroom, Blaine passed Kurt who started following him as soon as he saw the stain on Blaine’s shirt. When they reached the hallway bathroom, Kurt grabbed Blaine’s elbow to stop him, “Come on, I’ve got everything you need to get that out in my bathroom.”

Kurt led the way through his bedroom and into the bathroom. “Take off your shirt and sit down, this is going to take a few minutes.”

“But your guests…”

“You’re one of my guests. Besides I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to you tonight.” Kurt smiled at Blaine, “Now strip.”

Blaine laughed and unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to Kurt. He feels silly sitting on the toilet without a shirt on, holding his tie and his suspenders hanging around his hips, while Kurt was still fully dressed in his costume.

“Well, the good news is,” Kurt glanced over at Blaine from his shirt, “that this isn’t going to be a permanent stain. The bad news is that I’m going to need a few minutes to get this off with hot water and a Tide stick. If you want to go back out to the party, I’ll just take care of this in here.”

Blaine stared at Kurt for a long minute before saying, “I’m not going to leave you here to clean my shirt. Besides, it might look a little suspicious if I went back out there without a shirt on.”

Blaine was flirting, he knew he was, and he couldn’t stop himself. Kurt turns to face him, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Uh… Just that I might look really silly walking around with a tie and suspenders on without a shirt.” Blaine blushed, and Kurt smiled as he turned back to the sink where the water had started to steam, and ran Blaine’s shirt under the water.

“Are you having a good time tonight?”

“Yeah, I am. Thank you for inviting me,” Blaine responded.

“I hope Rachel isn’t giving you too much trouble. She can be a lot to handle the first time you meet her, but she means well. I promise.”

Blaine smiled, “Actually, I think your husband is the one out to get me. I think he was trying to set Rachel and me up.”

Kurt laughed, a full body shaking laugh. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Sorry, I’m not.”

“He does that. Ever since we got engaged, he has tried to set all of our friends up, so they could be as happy as we are. But he never manages to get it right. Although I think this is the first time his gaydar has been off.” Kurt smirked at Blaine.

“Well, Rachel would make an excellent beard.”

For the second time, Kurt laughed hard. “Remind me to tell you the time Rachel thought she was in love with Troy sometime.”

Blaine watched Kurt with confusion. The way Kurt said it sounded like he wanted to spend time with Blaine, just the two of them, again. He shook his head, and went back to watching Kurt work.

Before long Kurt had removed the stain and dried the wet spot with his hairdryer. Blaine put his shirt back on while Kurt tidied up the bathroom. He got his tie back on and turned to face Kurt, “How do I look?”

Kurt stepped into his personal space, reaching up to adjust his tie. “You look great,” Kurt breathed, the words tickling Blaine’s lips. Blaine met Kurt’s eyes and saw confusion there, raising an eyebrow in question. Kurt leaned in and pressed a gentle, barely there, kiss to the corner of Blaine’s mouth. As quick as he was there, Kurt turned around, quickly walking out of the bedroom, Blaine struggling to keep up.

As soon as they got back out to the party, Troy pulled Kurt into a deep kiss and Blaine searched for Wes, thankfully on the other side of the room. Wes tilted his head, questioning Blaine What on earth was that?. Blaine simply sighed and shook his head, Drop it.

***  
Two weeks after the Halloween party, Blaine ran into Kurt and Troy at the coffee shop closest to his apartment. Blaine waved them over after they pick up their order. They sat down at Blaine’s table, holding hands.

After exchanging pleasantries, Troy said, “I need to apologize, for trying to set you and Rachel up at the party. I didn’t realize you were gay.”

“Don’t worry about it. No harm done. Kurt was able to get the drink she spilled on me out of my shirt.” Kurt blushed and tried to hide it by taking a sip of his coffee.

“Well that’s Kurt for you. He knows every trick there is to get a stain out.” Troy moved his hand to the side of his mouth and mock-whispered, “I think he might secretly be a grandma.”

Kurt wacked him on the arm with the back of his hand and shook his head. Blaine tried his best not to spit his coffee and test Kurt’s skills again.

“So, Blaine,” Troy started, “is Wes your partner, then?”

This time Blaine did spit out his coffee, spluttering a little bit. Kurt started to stand, but Blaine shook him off, coughing for a minute before saying, “No. We are just old friends, we’ve been friends since high school. Wes is married to a woman.”

Kurt piped up this time, “So are you seeing anyone then?”

“No. I ended things with my ex about a year ago, and I have been focusing on my shop.” He smiled. He really was happy being single, or at least he was until recently.

“Your shop?” Troy asked.

“My flower shop, about ten blocks from here, Floriography. The name means the study of the meanings of flowers, which dates back to the Victorian times. Its pretty cool.”

“It sounds that way.”

Kurt piped in, “Honey, didn’t I tell you that Blaine did the flowers for our wedding? He made sure that everything had the right meanings. We don’t need to start our relationship out with frigidness.”

Blaine could have sworn that Kurt winked at him, but he couldn’t be sure, he could have imagined it.

They continued to drink their coffee. A few of Troy’s friends stopped by the table and said ‘hi’, Blaine was introduced to each of them as a friend of Kurt’s and most of them were given one of Blaine’s business cards. He wasn’t quite sure how Troy did it, but he seemed to be a marketing genius.

As he was about to leave, Kurt mentioned that he would be stopping in this week to place an order for the holiday party at work. Before he left, Troy pulled him into a hug, giving him a friendly pat on the back, then Kurt followed but held him a little bit closer and tighter than a normal friend hug, and whispered in his ear, “This bowtie looks fabulous on you.”

Blaine left the coffee shop with a grin on his face, despite the fact that it was rain-sleet-snowing outside.

***  
“I need a flower for my girlfriend.”

“Ok, what would you like it to say?”

“I was thinking something like ‘you are amazing and perfect, let’s have lots of sex.”

Blaine smiled, it was just an average Tuesday, getting strange requests. People seemed to think that he could change the world with his flowers, and maybe he could. But it wasn’t like he was Flowerman the superhero here to save your love life. He loved figuring out the most appropriate meanings, but something about this guy just rubbed him the wrong way.

“I’m sorry sir, there aren’t really any flowers that suggest sex; however there are a lot that express beauty and love. What about desire?” As soon as he finished his sentence, the door chimed and he said to the customer who had just walked in, “Just a minute”.

“No, I don’t have any desire to sleep with her. I want her to have the desire to sleep with me.”

Blaine looked around his shop, pulling a few flowers for the customer to look at, a red carnation ’my heart aches for you’, a red poppy pleasure, and an orchid refined beauty. The man of course rejected each of them as being not quite right. Blaine turned around to continue looking when he heard ‘Ah, ha. Found it’ from the other side of the shop. The man held up a pot with three cactuses in it, and when you looked at it from the right angle, it looked like an erect penis. Blaine wasn’t sure if the man saw it or not, but he did his best to stifle his laughter until the man had paid and walked out the door.

As soon as the door closed, Blaine let out a loud laugh before he heard the quiet giggles coming from the corner of the shop. His eyes shot up, and met Kurt’s piercing blue eyes. When he saw the near tears in Kurt’s eyes from laughing, Blaine couldn’t contain himself any longer and burst out laughing himself.

After a long minute, they finally regained composure, and Blaine asked, “Do you think he knew that he was giving his girlfriend a cactus-shaped phallus?”

“God, I hope so. But I kinda doubt it. What does cactus mean, anyway?”

“Endurance.” Blaine managed to hold his composure for exactly 15 seconds before breaking down into another fit of laughter. Kurt was laughing with him, and it took a long time for them to stop laughing.

“Huh, I guess that cactus was very appropriate.” Kurt said.

“Just call me ‘Flowerman’. Your friendly neighborhood flower super hero.” Blaine responded.

Kurt smiled, his eyes sparkling with mischief, “Alright then, Flowerman, I could use your superpowers to create some centerpieces for my office holiday party.”

“Of course. What were you thinking?”

“Can you do white flowers, with silver sprigs?”

“You do know that ‘silver sprigs’ are not a naturally occurring plant?”

Kurt glared at Blaine. “Yes, I am well aware. I was thinking of the wire things with baubles on them.”

“Sure. Any particular meaning?”

Kurt chewed his lips for a minute. Blaine had to resist the urge to stop him, or kiss him, or bite his lips himself. “Could you do something that is New Years themed? New beginnings, renewal, fresh start, that sort of thing?”

Blaine pulled out his book and pointed out the flowers, plumeria, hollyhock, white roses, and white irises. “How would you feel about having yellow accents?”

“I don’t know how that would look with the white and silver. Why, what were you thinking?”

“Well, gorse flowers mean love in all seasons which is a great message to send in December. But they are yellow, and a pretty bright yellow at that.” Blaine pointed them out in his book.

“That is a great message, but I just don’t think the color would work.”

“I agree, but it is just a happy thought.” Blaine smiled. “Do you have any strong feelings about glitter?”

“What?” Kurt looked confused.

“I can put glitter on the flowers, just on the tips of the pedals. It will add just a little extra sparkle. Or I can cover the entire flower in glitter. It is a little messy, but it can be a nice touch for the right event.”

“Isn’t that terrible for the flowers?”

“Yes. But so is cutting them off the plant. My job is essentially to preserve something that is on its way to death as long as possible. The glitter isn’t any worse for them than anything else I could do to them.”

Kurt cocked his head to the side, “I never thought of it that way, its rather morbid. But I do love glitter. Sure, let’s do it!”

“Brilliant. Glittery white flowers with slivery wires. I can do that. When do you need them?”

“The party is on the 21st.” Kurt blushed slightly, “Actually, can I ask you a favor? It is sorta unorthodox.” Blaine nodded encouragingly, waiting for Kurt to continue. “Could I, I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble, and I won’t be in the way, could I come watch you glitter the flowers?”

Blaine reached out and covered Kurt’s hand with his own, the electric thrill flowing from his hand up into his chest, warming him. “Kurt, you can even help me if you’d like. I trust that this isn’t so you can steal all my secrets and open your own glittered flower shop.”

Kurt chuckled, “No, I’ll stick with fashion design, thanks.”

Blaine smiled at him, “Cool, then come by about noon on the 21st. I’ll close the front of the shop and you can come help me.”

***  
“…That’s ridiculous, right Blaine? Its just not possible!” Jeff asked Blaine, who had been busy folding bits of paper into cranes and roses. It was Friday night, which meant Blaine was out with ‘the guys’ having a beer, trying to clear his head. Ever since Kurt stopped in the shop earlier in the week, Blaine had a difficult time focusing on anything else. Every time the door chimes sounded, he looked up hoping to see Kurt’s smiling face, which was ridiculous; he was just in the shop and was coming back in two weeks for the flowers.

Lauren snapped her fingers in front of Blaine’s face, “Yoo hoo. Earth to Blaine. Come back from the stratosphere.” Lauren was the only other gay person in their little group, she was one of the suppliers Blaine works with regularly, and eventually she just became part of their little group of guys.

Blaine shook his head, “Huh, what? Sorry. I was lost in my head.”

“Yeah, we noticed.” Wes snarked back at him. “Jeff wants to know what your take on love at first sight is. Nick says its possible and he’s experienced it, I like the idea of it, but find it impractical, Jeff think it’s impossible. What do you think?”

Blaine looked down at his collection of folded papers; of course one of them was a purple rose. Blaine picked up the folded flower, examining it, before looking back at his friends. They were all staring at him like he was crazy; he put the flower down. “Did you know that lavender roses mean ‘love at first sight’?

All of his friends just stared at him, except Lauren who shook her head; she’d seen this before, and it wasn’t going to end well for Blaine. Nick piped up, “No, we didn’t. We also don’t care. So which is it? Do you believe in love at first sight or is it bullshit?”

“I… yeah, I think I do. I believe that there can be a connection between two people instantly, just with a glance, eyes meeting and boom, you’re smitten.”

“But that’s not love. That’s arousal.” Wes said, “I’ve been aroused at first sight plenty of times. There have been plenty of women that I want to take home after just a glance in my direction.” Lauren nodded.

Blaine shook his head, “That’s not what I mean. I don’t mean wanting to have sex with them after just a glance. I mean, you feel like you know everything about them and understand their different facial expressions, before you even know their name. Its like, maybe in a former life, or whatever, you were best friends or lovers, and you found each other again. And everything else is unimportant, you just want to spend the rest of your life learning everything about them.”

Nick nodded and Jeff just looked at Blaine in awe. “I, I have never thought something that romantic in my life. Can I use that one on the next girl I’m trying to pick up?”

Wes smacked Jeff’s arm and Nick, Lauren, and Blaine just laughed.

“That might be why you’re single, Blainers.” Lauren said

Blaine glared, “Don’t call me Blainers.”

When they finally left the bar a few hours later, Lauren said that she would usher the very drunk Blaine home, seeing how she lived just a few blocks from him. Once she got him outside, the cool air pulling him in the direction of his apartment, she asked the question that has been burning all night, “So who is he?”

“Huh?” Blaine tried to look at her, but ended up just stumbling slightly on his own feet and leaning heavily on her.

“Just walk in a straight line, Jesus Blaine.”

“I can’t walk straight, I’m gay.”

Lauren sighed. “Just tell me who the guy is.”

“Which guy? There are lots of guys. Wes is a guy, but he has a wife. And Jeff’s a guy and Nick’s a guy. And you’re a guy but not a guy. You’re special.”

Lauren laughed, "You’re special too, hon. But tell me about the guy you are in love with.”

“Oh! Kurt! He’s so pretty. He’s like a bouquet of dahlias, elegant and dignified and so, so pretty and perfect.”

“Where did you meet him?”

“In the shop. I did his flowers.”

“For what?”

“For his wedding. I was there.”

“Wait, let me get this straight, you are in love with a guy who you met while designing the flowers for his wedding.” She sighed she couldn’t believe it. Lauren asked him, “What am I going to do with you, Blaine? At least tell me he’s actually gay.”

“He’s gay. He’s so pretty. You don’t understand.”

They had reached Blaine’s apartment, “Just promise me one thing, you aren’t going to break them up.”

“No.” Blaine looked like he sobered up instantly, but the waver in his step and hiccups gave him away, “I would never do that.”

“Ok, good! Now let’s get you upstairs to bed.”

“You should come cuddle with me. I like it when you stay and cuddle.”

She smiled and led Blaine into his building, after digging his keys out of his pocket. “Ok.”

***  
Kurt was out to brunch with his girls, Rachel, Quinn, and Molly, his friend from college. They had started the monthly brunch outing as a book club, but really it was just an excuse for some Saturday morning bonding time. They had a standing reservation at Greenwich Kitchen, a small but popular local joint. It was the perfect blend of sophisticated and quirky, and Rachel loved it because all the meals could be made vegan and were named after musicals.

After they ordered, Rachel was telling everyone the latest in her crushes gone wrong: She had fallen for another cute dancer, and shockingly, he turned out to be gay. Kurt had heard it all before, and the decorations on the table were seriously distracting him.

On each table there were rose heads in short vases, coral, red, white, yellow, and of course the one on their table was lavender, a deep vibrant lavender. Kurt had been trying desperately not to think about Blaine too often, but every time he saw flowers he would pause and wonder what the meaning was, and if it would make Blaine laugh with its conflicting messages. He found himself spending entirely too much time thinking about his friend, especially for a newly married man.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Kurt interrupted Rachel; she gaped at him while Molly looked at him gratefully.

She was the first to respond, "Yeah, I think I do."

"What do you mean? The whole idea is ridiculous, knowing you are in love with someone the first time you see them. I can honestly say I have never felt that way." Rachel countered.

"That's because you keep finding gay men. Maybe if you found one that was interested in you not just for your stardom, you might," Quinn said, taking a sip of her mimosa.

"Ouch. That was low, I don't always find gay men..."

"Steve, John, Noah, Javier, and then there was the time you though Troy was just pretending to be interested in Kurt to get with you."

"I was drunk!" Rachel attempted to defend herself.

"And there was also that time in high school that you thought you were in love with Kurt." Quinn said.

Kurt nodded, "Those were dark and confusing times."

"Why do you ask Kurt?" Molly asked.

"Did you know that each and every flower has a meaning?" He turned the vase around, "Lavender roses mean 'love at first sight'."

"Do you believe in it?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, I think I do. Or maybe not love, at least the feeling, a pull, towards a person, like you have to know more about them. Like you want to know what they like and don't like, and how they like their coffee, and what kind of eggs they like for breakfast, and how they look while sleeping, like you want to know everything about them. So maybe it isn't love at first sight, but maybe it's attraction or desire or a pull. But you can't just stop thinking about them."

The girls all stared at him for a long minute before Molly asked, "Is that how it is for you and Troy?"

"Hmmm...?" Kurt said wistfully, "Oh, yeah, it is." He lied. He never felt this way towards Troy, but couldn't stop thinking and feeling it for Blaine. He pushed that thought out of his head as quickly as it was there; Blaine was off limits, he was married.

***  
A little after noon on the 21st, Kurt walked in the door of Floriography. Blaine called from the back room, “I’m sorry, we’re closed for a private party. I’ll be open tomorrow morning at 8.”

“Its me, Kurt.”

Blaine popped his head out, “Oh, hi Kurt. Come on back. Can you lock the door first so no one tries to come in?”

Kurt locked the door, taking a minute to admire the shop. Everything was organized neatly by color. The flowers flowed steadily from purple to red and orange, all the way through the rainbow, ending with white flowers, which were sparsely filled, Kurt assumed because Blaine had many of the buckets in the back room. Its an interesting way of arranging flowers, usually they are by type of flower, and bouquets are just haphazardly thrown into water, but there is such care in the way Blaine has his arranged. Kurt thought, the flowers really are his babies.

When he entered the backroom, Blaine had paper, resembling waxed paper, covering the large worktable, and he is carefully spraying glue on some of the white roses.

“How can I help?”

Blaine smiled at him, “Do you want to do some of the gluing on the tips of the pedals? It is a lot less messy than the spraying and pouring.”

“Sure, how do I…” Kurt trailed off.

“Just pipe a little bit of glue” Blaine gestured to the thin tube of glue, “around the tip of the pedals and then shake glitter on them. Don’t use too much glue, otherwise it will drip down towards the filaments.”

“Got it.”

They worked quietly for a while, Blaine coming over eventually to look at Kurt’s flowers. Blaine sighed lightly as he watched over Kurt’s shoulder. “What?”

“Nothing. But I think you might be better at this than I am. Your lines are perfectly straight, and you can barely see the glue under the glitter.”

Kurt laughed, “I have had a bit of practice with glitter. I had a bit of an obsession in high school.”

Blaine laughed as well. Walking back over to the arrangements, to check on how many more flowers he needed to glitter. “So, Kurt. What do you do exactly?”

“Oh, I’m a designer for a mostly-unknown fashion house.”

“Wow. So have I seen any of your work?”

“Yeah, actually, I was wearing it the last time I came in.” Blaine looks confused, so Kurt clarifies, “The vest I was wearing is one of my own designs.”

“I wish I could say that I noticed how fantastic it was, but I’m afraid I don’t remember it, sorry.”

“Its ok.”

“I would really like to see your work, next time point it out to me?”

“Sure, or maybe sometime you can come by the studio and I can show you the collection I’m working on.” Kurt wasn’t sure why he said it; Troy hasn’t been by the studio in years. That was not true. Kurt knew exactly why he said it-he was falling for Blaine. Fuck.

They worked for most of the afternoon, talking about music, movies, and glee club in high school, amazed that somehow they lived only an hour and a half apart from each other, but never met, or competed against each other.

When all of the centerpieces were together, Kurt helped Blaine load his van and deliver them to his office. Once they get everything unloaded, Kurt pulled Blaine into a hug and said, “Thank you so much. Everything is beautiful, Flowerman.”

“You’re welcome.” Blaine found himself grinning stupidly and looking into Kurt’s eyes. Kurt was inching forward, or so Blaine thought. No Kurt was definitely getting closer; they were breathing the same air.

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but the word got caught in his throat. Kurt took a shaky breath, brushing a curl off of Blaine’s forehead.

“You are covered in glitter.” He said smiling wistfully.

Blaine sighed and took a step back; he couldn’t do this. “Have a good night Kurt. Thanks for your help this afternoon. You really have a natural talent for glittering flowers.”

“Blaine, wait…” Kurt started, but Blaine had already turned around and was walking back towards his van.


	3. Gardenia

New Year’s Eve, Blaine was at home, making himself a chicken pot pie. He might have lived in the greatest city in the world, especially on New Year’s Eve, but Blaine preferred to stay in. It wasn’t that he disliked the holiday, quite the opposite; in fact Blaine appreciated the beginning of a new year. He knew that there were all sorts of new years; each birthday, anniversary, holiday, and notable event marked the beginning of a new year, to be remembered in the future. That fact didn’t deter his enjoyment of the day. No, it was the crowds that flocked to the city to ring in the New Year; they were loud, drunk, and messy. Blaine preferred to stay home and celebrate his own way. Which was why he was so shocked to hear the knocking on his door just as he was sitting down to eat.

He grumbled as he opened the door to see Sara wearing an obnoxiously bright paper hat with 2019 sticking out from springs on the top. Everything was covered in glitter, and shedding all over her face and hair. She blew a noisemaker in his face and shouted, “Happy New Year!”

“Its not midnight yet.” Blaine turned around and walked back to his dinner, assuming that she would follow and close the door behind her.

“Blaine,” Sara whined, grabbing him by the shoulders, “Come on, be happy, it’s a new beginning, just like marigolds.”

Blaine laughed, “Marigolds mean pain or grief, you are thinking of daffodils.” Blaine sighed, thinking of the secondary meaning of the flower, and then of Kurt.

Wes walked through his open apartment door, “Sara, leave Grumpy pants alone. He just needs a little convincing. Come on, you know you want to go to Battery Park with us.” Wes said turning to Blaine.

“I really don’t. Its not that I dislike New Year’s Eve, it’s more that I hate crowds. And tonight is the night when everyone flocks upon the city.”

“Oh, come on, Blaine. What are you going to do? Sit here by yourself, drink a bottle of wine all alone and watch Dick Clark?”

“I think Dick Clark died and it is now hosted by Ryan Seacrest.”

Wes sighed, “Come with us, Blaine. I promise it will be fun, and not too crowded. Everyone goes to Times Square. If you hate it, you can leave before midnight.”

Blaine sighed, knowing they won. “Fine. Just let me wrap up my dinner and grab a power bar.”

Together the three of them walked to the subway and then crammed into the car with all of the drunk people heading to Times Square or other parties to ring in the New Year. They transferred to the 1, and took it all the way down to the park, the crowd thinning out dramatically as they got closer to their destination.

It was cold in the park, a breeze coming up off the harbor. Blaine pulled his scarf tighter around his neck, and wished he had brought a hat with him. When they found a nice spot to relax, not too close to anyone else, Sara opened her giant purse and pulled out a thermos of hot chocolate spiked with Bailey’s.

“This is why I love you, honey,” Wes said.

Sara shook her head, “Yes, you love me because I get you drunk with chocolate.”

Blaine laughed, and noticed a familiar-looking head standing not too far from them. The man turned and lit up as soon as he recognized Blaine, waving before pulling the other man with him.

“Blaine! I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” Kurt pulled Blaine off the bench and into a tight hug. As soon as Kurt released him, Troy clapped him on the back.

“How was your holiday?” Blaine asked.

“It was great, we went to see Troy’s family in Iowa,” Kurt answered. “How was yours?”

Blaine smiled, “It was nice. I went to see my brother, Cooper, in LA. It was nice to get away for a few days, but of course it’s also always nice to come home again.”

Both Troy and Kurt nodded. Then Sara loudly cleared her throat behind Blaine. “Oh, I’m sorry, how rude of me. This is Wes, who you’ve met, and his beautiful wife, Sara. This is Kurt and Troy.”

She extended her hand for both of them to shake. “Nice to meet you, Blaine has told me so much about you both. All good.”

They fell into easy conversation, discussing movies and TV and nothing. When the topic shifted to Broadway, Kurt professed his love for _Wicked_ and excitement over going to see _Once_ in a few weeks.

“What is your favorite show, Blaine? Everyone else has shared?”

“I, uh… I’ve never actually been to a show on Broadway.”

“What!?!” Kurt exclaimed, “How is it possible for someone to live in New York as long as you have and be interested in musical theater and never have been to Broadway?”

“I don’t know. I always wanted to go, but when I first moved to the city, I couldn’t afford the ticket prices, and then once my shop got busy I guess I just forgot.” Blaine shrugged.

Everyone else continued talking about Broadway, leaving Blaine to watch them. He could hardly keep his eyes off of Kurt, the way he got excited about theatre, just like fashion. The way that Troy kept his arm securely around Kurt’s shoulder, both men looking extremely happy. They just looked so good together, Blaine could feel his chest tightening, he couldn’t be here much longer. He stood abruptly, muttering something about wanting to beat the rush home and having to open the shop early in the morning.

Kurt reached out and grabbed Blaine’s wrist before he could get too far, “Don’t go yet. It’s almost midnight. Stay for the fireworks.”

Blaine was powerless to say no. He nodded and suggested they move closer to the shore to better see the show. When they got over to the railing, Sara wrapped her arms around Blaine, kissing his cheek and saying, “I’m glad you are here.”

Blaine kissed her back and moved so she was standing in the circle of Wes’ arms. To his other side, Kurt was standing in almost the exact same position in Troy’s arms. Blaine smiled, 2018 might not have been his year romantically, but it had been an enormously successful year at Floriography, and he was already booking weddings out into the spring. He hoped that 2019 would bring both successes in his shop and in his love life.

The fireworks started a few minutes before midnight, with the large finale happening just as the clock turned over into the New Year. On either side of him, the couples were kissing. Blaine continued to look over the harbor until he felt hands pulling at him. He turned to see Kurt pulling him into a hug. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt holding him close.

“Happy New Year, Blaine.” Kurt whispered pressing a warm kiss to the skin beneath his ear and holding him just a little bit tighter. It felt intimate, too intimate for friends. Before he knew it, Kurt was pulling back and he was getting hugs from Troy, Wes, and a big sloppy kiss from Sara.

Blaine walked all the way back to his apartment, not wanting to fight with public transit, the smile never leaving his face the entire two and a half hour trip.

***  
“Floriography, how can I help you?” Blaine answered the phone.

“Hi. Blaine?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“This is Troy, Kurt’s husband.”

“Oh, Hi Troy, how are you?”

“Good, how are you?”

“I’m good.”

There was silence on the other end, Blaine tried to keep the slightly exasperated tone out of his voice when eventually Blaine said, “What do you want, Troy?”

“Right, sorry. I was calling to see if you would be interested in accompanying Kurt for me. See, I had a last minute business meeting come up, and I am going to be in Seattle. Kurt has two tickets to see _Once_ on Thursday night, and I know he won’t go alone. So I was wondering if you’d accompany him.”

“I… uh, sure. I’ll go with him.”

“Ok, great. Thanks. I owe you one. I’ll have Kurt call you with the details.”

“Ok.”

“Great, thank you so much, man. You are awesome.”

“Yeah. Talk to you later.”

Blaine hung up the phone; that had to be one of the strangest phone calls he’d ever had.

***  
When Blaine agreed to go see a Broadway show with Kurt, he didn’t realize he had agreed to go on Valentines Day. Blaine was incredibly busy, never having a moment to stop from when he opened at 9am until he kicked the last customer out at 7:20pm and needed to head over to meet Kurt. The fact that it was Valentine’s Day meant that naturally it was impossible to get a dinner reservation anywhere in the city, unless you were Kurt Hummel–one of the best-known up-and-coming fashion designer in the city. Which meant they had after-theater reservations at Sardis.

Kurt had offered to pick Blaine up and go to the show together, but Blaine couldn’t do it. That would make it a real date, a date-date on Valentine’s Day, no way. Kurt was married, to a slightly off but very nice man. The entire subway ride to the theater Blaine had to keep reminding himself that he was not going on a date with Kurt, but just hanging out, as friends. But the entire evening felt like it was a date. Blaine considered bringing a single lavender rose for Kurt, but put it back in the tub just before closing his shop, changing his mind. Bring him a flower was too cliché, and would really make it a date.

Blaine got to the theater before Kurt, so he just hovered outside, trying to stay far enough away from the entrance to not be in the way but close enough so that he could see Kurt when he arrived. He wished he had the tickets, so he could go inside and wait, but Blaine had turned down Kurt’s offer to stop by the shop and drop off his tickets.

Blaine spotted Kurt hurrying down the street towards him, wearing a charcoal gray pea coat and a thick dark blue scarf. Blaine waved as Kurt got closer and his face burst into a huge smile. Kurt pulled Blaine into a rib-crushing hug as soon as he was close enough.

“Thanks for coming out with me tonight. I know its Valentine’s Day. Troy and I were supposed to make this our date night.” Kurt said stepping back.

“I’m sorry he couldn’t be here with you. I’m sure you’d rather be with him,” Blaine picked at a loose thread in his jacket that wasn’t really there.

“I’m not so sure about that. I get to be the one to pop your Broadway cherry, and on Valentine’s Day, I think that makes me pretty lucky.” Kurt smirked, “Come on, let’s get inside and take our coats to the check.”

When they finally got to the front of the line for the coat check, Blaine’s mouth fell open involuntarily when Kurt shrugged off his pea coat and thick winter scarf. He was impeccably dressed, wearing skintight jeans, a white button up, purple tie, black pinstripe vest with a purple pocket square in the pocket. Blaine felt horribly under dressed, he was wearing dark denim and a black button up and his favorite black, white, and red-stripped bowtie.

Kurt reached up and gently adjusted Blaine’s bowtie, “You look great tonight.”

“So do you.” Blaine smiled.

They walked to their seats in silence, looking puzzled at the line of patrons on the stage. A quick search in the Playbill led them to the answer: The show’s prop bar was a fully functioning bar and audience members could purchase drinks before and during intermission. They decided to get in the short and quick moving line. Blaine got a glass of merlot and Kurt a chardonnay; when Kurt tried to pay, Blaine batted his hand away and put a twenty down on the bar, leading Kurt back to their seats.

They sat down in their seats, waiting for the show to start. Kurt was sipping his wine and reading the Playbill. Blaine was too excited so he was just tapping his foot and taking in the entire theater.

The lights flicked off and on and Blaine’s face was full of child-like wonder. Not because there was a fire-breathing dragon above the stage or a giant chandelier crashing down, but because he was finally here, he was finally seeing a Broadway show, after he had dreamed about it for so long.

The opening chords sounded from stage, and the lights came up. Blaine was so excited he could hardly sit still, he was a little like a five-year-old, but he took a deep breath and settled in to enjoy the show. He was blown away by the cast. He couldn’t believe that the entire cast were not only triple threats, but were also professional musicians. They were quadruple threats. They were all so talented.

The entire show, Blaine had an eerie feeling of familiarity to the musical, the characters seemed like echoes of his own life. He could see bits of himself in the down-trodden guitar-playing vacuum repairman. And shadows of Wes, Sara, and of course Kurt in the girl who changes his mind. He was so lost in thought and absorbing the musical that he didn’t realize it was intermission until Kurt’s hand was on his thigh and was saying in his ear, “Blaine!”

Blaine blinked, muttering sorry as he stood and got out of the way of the people going up to the on-stage bar or the lobby. When he sat back down, Kurt asked him, “Are you enjoying it?”

“Wha… yeah, I am. I never thought it would be so consuming. I was just completely engrossed in the story and music, I forgot I was in a theater.”

Kurt rested his hand on Blaine’s shoulder and squeezed gently, “That’s precisely why I love the theater. I also love when I have seen the actors in other musicals.”

Blaine raised his eyebrow in question at Kurt. “I’ve seen the male lead in _Spamalot_ and the woman who plays piano in _That Face_.”

“Wow. That is amazing. I can’t believe the entire cast is the orchestra. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I know. I’ve been excited to see this show since it won Best Musical at the Tony’s last year.”

Part way through the second act, Kurt reached over and tangled his fingers with Blaine’s squeezing and giving him a small smile. Blaine forgot that he wasn’t seeing the musical with his boyfriend, but rather someone who was just his friend and he was hopelessly in love with. Blaine rubbed his thumb back and forth across Kurt’s knuckles; they sat that way for the rest of the show.

After the show, they walked the short distance to the restaurant in a companionable silence. Blaine was still in awe from the performance. He was blown away by the entire musical. Blaine noticed that Kurt kept sneaking glances at him when he thought he wasn’t looking.

Eventually Blaine asked, a smile creeping into his voice, “What?”

“Nothing, just… you look really nice tonight.”

“You said that already.”

Kurt blushed faintly, “I… uh… I…”

Blaine bumped his arm, laughing. “You look great tonight too.” He refrained from adding, _You always look great to me._

They reached the restaurant and were led to their seat, on the second floor, right in the window. They had a perfect view of both the street and the people walking by and the entire restaurant. It might have been the best table in the house. Blaine didn’t want to know how many strings Kurt pulled to get this table.

The waiter took the napkins off the table and placed them over both Kurt and Blaine’s laps, then opened the menus for them. Blaine breathed out a small, “Wow”.

Kurt smiled, “Is this your first time going to Sardi’s?”

“Believe it or not, I have lived in New York for seven years and I have never been to a Broadway show or Sardi’s. I always wanted to, but never had someone I wanted to go with.”

“Well, I’m happy to go with you. I love Broadway, and Sardi’s is my favorite restaurant in New York. It might be corny to say that, but I just love the atmosphere and the food is delicious.”

“So what do you recommend, then?” Blaine gestured to the menu.

“I always go for one of the _Sardi’s Traditions_ they are good, classics that taste amazing. But really, you can’t go wrong with anything; just save room for dessert. The tiramisu is to die for.”

Blaine nodded going back to reading his menu. The decided to get a bottle of wine to share, an Argentinian Malbec, Blaine’s pick, which was amazing. It was Blaine’s favorite kind of wine, because it was fruity and yet still tasted like a red wine. Kurt decided to have the Grilled Chicken Club, while Blaine went with the Cannelloni au Gratin.

Kurt took a sip of his wine before asking, “I have to ask. You said you sang in high school, and that you always wanted to perform. Why didn’t you?”

Blaine tried to hide the flicker of sadness that he knew passed over his eyes, it always did when he thought about his potential career in performing that he never pursued. “I was the lead singer for The Warblers, the a capella show choir at my school; we took second place at Nationals my senior year.”

“That is fantastic, congratulations. We actually won my senior year.”

Blaine chuckles, “Thanks. No one has congratulated me on that in such a long time. Anyway, after graduation, I was going to go to NYU for theater and performance. But when my dad found out about my plan, he said that he would only pay for me to get a degree that would be useful and not one that ‘would only get me a job playing in the subway’.” Blaine ended the sentence in an impersonation of his father.

“So you gave up your dream because your father threatened to cut you off. That is horrible.”

“That’s Richard Anderson. I looked in to getting student loans, but with my parent’s income, I could only get very small loans that would never cover tuition and the cost of living. So I was sorta stuck.” Blaine took a sip of wine before continuing. “My freshman year, I took music and some theater classes, I was in plays. I was planning on doing both, getting a degree in business and minoring in theater, or maybe getting a double major.”

Blaine paused, taking a long drink of his wine, “And then I got too involved in my classes to do much outside of them, and eventually it was graduation and I hadn’t sung in public in nearly three years.

“Dad wanted me to get a position in his company, work my way up from a middle manager position and eventually take over his job of CFO. Which was the last thing I wanted to do. I looked at my business degree and I just wanted to cry. I had given up the one thing I really loved.

“I was visiting my grandma and she gave me the idea to open the shop. She was talking about how her husband would always give her flowers that had meanings, and I was curious. She showed me an old book that listed nearly a hundred different flowers and plants. So I ran with it. I researched flowers, I found a job working at another shop, perfecting arrangements and working out which colors work well together. Then a year and a half ago I opened my shop and I haven’t looked back. I found my passion.”

Kurt had been listening the entire time Blaine was talking, nodding along and sipping his wine. “That is one hell of a story, I’m impressed.”

Blaine shrugged, “I like what I do, and I’m pretty good at it. But tell me more about what you do. Tell me about the up-and-coming designer I’m sharing a table with.”

His smile shifted to a smirk. Kurt smiled back, “It’s not as interesting as your story, trust me. But I have one question first. Why did you never go see a show on Broadway?”

Blaine bit his lip, thinking before answering, “I guess I thought it would hurt too much. Watching someone else achieve my dreams. Which is stupid, but…” He trailed off.

“I understand completely. I actually thought it would feel that way the first time I went to a show, but instead it just made me love and appreciate my talents more.”

“Alright, now tell me your story.”

Kurt sat up straighter in his chair, “Ok, I also wanted to go into musical theater, but I figured out that there weren’t too many roles for countertenors, who were a little bit feminine and had a love of high kicks. I decided that fashion was more of my calling. I went to Parson’s and was lucky enough to get an internship with McQueen. I had one of my designs, well a scarf that I designed, shown at Fashion Week, and it made a splash. It was a fluke really, the scarf that was supposed to go down the runway ripped just minutes before the model had to walk.” Kurt took a sip of his wine, “I guess I just got lucky.”

“Do you really believe that?” Noticing Kurt’s confused look, Blaine added, “That the reason you are so successful is a fluke?”

“I know I work hard, but yeah. It was a silly mistake, which I no longer remember, that caused my design to be shown.”

“I don’t know, Kurt. Maybe it was fate, or destiny, or, Karma or whatever you want to call it that got your work shown that day. I guess, I just think that everything happens for a reason, and really we do get what we deserve, in one way or another.”

Kurt was feeling argumentative, “So you deserved to have to give up your dream?”

“I don’t know. I guess, I had to give it up so I could do this…” Just then the waiter brought their meals and Blaine added softly, hoping that Kurt wouldn’t hear him, “so I could meet you.”

“Call it fate or a fluke, but either way, I’m really glad to have met you too.” Kurt added and Blaine blushed faintly, digging in to his supper.

After they finished their meals and shared a tiramisu, Blaine insisted on paying for dinner, but Kurt slipped the waiter his credit card before he had even brought the bill. Blaine just glared at him while he finished the rest of his wine, emptying the bottle.

“Tell me, Blaine. What do you do for fun on a night out?”

Blaine had a sly look when he said, “How about I lead the way to a secret spot.”

Kurt laughed, “Lead away.”

Blaine led them on a slightly round about way to get to the small bar about two blocks from his shop. When Blaine stopped at the door, Kurt shot him what could only be described as a bitch glare.

It was a small, pretty run down bar. It was also in a basement, and the fact that there was ice covering the steps didn’t help one bit. After carefully making it into the bar, Kurt stopped in his track when he realized what was happening on the small stage. There was a drag queen singing an absurd rendition of “Call Me, Maybe”. Next to her were three very buff men singing back up. Kurt’s had shot up to cover his mouth when he realized that he was staring with his mouth open. When they finished, they left the stage with a flourish of fabric and skin and the DJ invited a very drunk girl up to the stage.

Blaine led Kurt to the bar saying, “They make the best martinis, well that don’t cost $20.”

Kurt was facing the stage, cringing at the girl butchering an Adele song. He nodded to Blaine, who ordered two drinks.

They found a table and sat down, sipping their martinis. Eventually Kurt asked, “Do you want to sing something?”

Blaine smirked “Yeah, I do.”

“I’ll grab a book.” Kurt walked over to the DJ and got the song book. When he returned, they flipped through the book, laughing at some of the selections and trying to agree on something. Blaine kept suggesting classic lounge and blues songs, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Dean Martin. Kurt, on the other hand, was all about pop, but turned down Blaine’s suggestion of singing Katy Perry. Eventually they agreed on a Fergie song. A group of drunk guys got up and sang a ridiculous version of Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” and then the queen got up again and sang “I Kissed a Girl” but changed the lyrics to “but I didn’t like it”; earning roaring cheers from the crowd.

Finally they were called up to the stage. Blaine grabbed the microphone, and it just felt right in his hand. He felt like he was 17 again, singing lead for the Warblers. Kurt left his microphone in the stand, and tried to hide behind it. Blaine took the first verse:

_The smell of your skin lingers on me now_  
You're probably on your flight back to your home town  
I need some shelter of my own protection baby  
To be with myself and center, clarity  
Peace, Serenity 

Kurt sung the beginning of the chorus. The longer he sang the more comfortable he was. Eventually Kurt was swaying back and forth with the microphone in the stand.

_I hope you know, I hope you know_  
That this has nothing to do with you  
It's personal, myself and I  
We've got some straightenin' out to do 

Blaine joined in on the second half of the chorus. He moved so that he was standing right next to Kurt, almost touching him, and singing directly at Kurt, ignoring the audience completely.

_And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket_  
But I've got to get a move on with my life  
It's time to be a big girl now  
And big girls don't cry  
Don't cry 

Their voices blend perfectly together. Kurt was momentarily surprised when Blaine gestured to him to take the next verse, and missed the first word.

_…path that I'm walking_  
I must go alone  
I must take the baby steps 'til I'm full grown, full grown  
Fairytales don't always have a happy ending, do they?  
And I foresee the dark ahead if I stay 

Kurt looked over at Blaine as he sang the last two lines. Blaine wasn’t sure what the expression was, it looked like a mixture of sadness and determination, with something smoldering underneath, lust maybe. But it couldn’t be, could it? Blaine would give anything to know what Kurt was thinking as he sang.

Kurt took the first half of the bridge.

</i>Like the little school mate in the school yard  
We'll play jacks and Uno cards  
I'll be your best friend and you'll be my Valentine</i>

Blaine joined him, and Kurt reached out his hand, Blaine naturally took it. They fit together perfectly, Kurt’s soft long fingers in stark contrast to Blaine’s callused, short fingers. Blaine looked over at Kurt as he sang, and saw that Kurt was looking right back at him, Blaine squeezed his hand before turning back to face the audience.

_Yes you can hold my hand if you want to_  
'Cause I want to hold yours too  
We'll be playmates and lovers and share our secret worlds  
But it's time for me to go home  
It's getting late, dark outside  
I need to be with myself and center, clarity  
Peace, Serenity 

By the time they sang the final chorus, the entire crowd was singing along and the drag queen is dancing with one of the girls. Blaine had to resist the urge to twirl Kurt around at the end, instead he kept their hands linked as they took a bow and walked off the stage.

When they got back to their table, they were brought a bunch of shots from the other bar patrons.

“I guess we were pretty good,” Blaine joked.

“Pretty good! Blaine, you were phenomenal! You really could have been a huge star. God, Blaine. We should do another one!”

Blaine picked up one of the shots and throws it back before answering, “I think I only have one in me tonight.”

Kurt nodded, turning away before doing the three shots left on the table. They stayed for two more songs, before Kurt started to get a little aggressive and loud in his comments. Blaine led them out the door and in the direction of his shop and Kurt’s apartment. The three shots plus had already gone to Kurt’s head, making him unsteady on his feet and talkative. Blaine wrapped his hand around Kurt’s waist to keep him steady.

As they reach the front of Floriography, Kurt stopped and leaned against the door. “Which one do you like?”

Blaine looked slight surprised and very confused by Kurt’s question. He had been babbling about the horrible outfits in the bar and how terrible everyone sang. He was having a hard time following Kurt’s train of thought, “What?”

Kurt gestured toward the shop, “You’ve got every kind in there, which one would you want a bouquet of?”

“I guess… I like dahlias. I love the symmetry of the pedals. They are just regal and dignified.”

Kurt nodded, “What do Tulips mean?”

“They mean fame, or love. Unless it is a red one, those are declaration of love; and yellow ones are hopeless love.” Blaine took a deep breath, “There used to be tulips that were striped, they were hybrids, but they all died out. They were said to be the most beautiful flowers in the world.” Blaine looked up into Kurt’s eyes, his hand reaching out to touch him before falling to his side, “Those meant ‘beautiful eyes’.”

Kurt closed the distance between them, reaching out to caress Blaine’s cheek, but missing slightly and ended up caressing his ear. “Do you remember the first time we met? You gave me a flower, a lavender rose. What do they mean, Blaine?”

Kurt’s hand settled to cup Blaine’s cheek, Blaine leaned into Kurt’s touch, he whispered, “Love at first sight.”

Suddenly, Kurt surged forward, his lips meeting Blaine’s in an awkward and rough kiss. Blaine pulled back slightly to adjust and Kurt pulled him back, his arms moving around Blaine’s back to hold him close. Blaine ran his tongue along Kurt’s lips and they parted. Kurt tipped his head to the left, deepening the kiss and stroking his tongue along Blaine’s. Blaine moved his hands to Kurt’s hair, and gently rand the soft strands at the base of his neck through his fingers.

Blaine was the first to pull back, as he did, Kurt leaned in and rested his forehead against Blaine’s. Kurt sighed and just stood there for a minute breathing Blaine in. Blaine was afraid to move, he didn’t want this moment to end, he was too happy in Kurt’s arms. But he knew he had to, he didn’t want to be the reason that Kurt and Troy’s marriage ended.

Blaine finally pulled back saying, “We need to stop.”

Kurt blinked twice slowly before nodding his head. He only moved one hand, keeping one firmly on Blaine’s back, leading him away from the shop in the direction of his house. Blaine walked Kurt all the way to his apartment, fighting the urge to kiss him again, before he turned to go home himself.

***  
It was the middle of March before Blaine saw Kurt again. Its not that they haven’t texted each other, because they had an almost daily text conversation. They both agreed that after the Valentines kiss they needed to take some time apart, not see each other and just go back to being friends. Blaine worked like he did every day and went home alone every evening. But he looked forward to the nightly texts with Kurt, chatting about their days and the crazy they see on the subway. It was always innocent and never about their relationship with each other.

Which is why Kurt’s text was so surprising, it was simple, and was really just friendly, but a part of Blaine’s mind said ‘but it could mean so much more’.

_Kurt: Would you want to get lunch on Friday?_

_Blaine: Sure that sounds great. Where were you thinking?_

_Kurt: I’ll stop by your shop at 12:30 and we can go together._

_Blaine: See you then_

Kurt was of course, right on time on Friday. Blaine closed up the shop for a short lunch break, leaving a sign saying that he would be back at 1:30pm, just incase his afternoon order stopped by early to pick it up. “Where are we going?”

“Just follow me. We’re going to my favorite café. Which I never realized is only five blocks from your shop.”

When they arrived at Greenwich Kitchen, Blaine stopped and looked at Kurt, surprised that Kurt had picked his favorite café in New York. In a city full of coffee shops and cafes, they both liked the same one, yet had never run into each other there. They placed their orders, Blaine insisting on paying for both Kurt’s and his meal. They found a small quiet table in the corner where they could talk. It wasn’t very loud in the café, it was just people on their laptops typing and small groups enjoying lunch together.

The conversation was pleasant and flowed easily throughout the meal. It wasn’t until they were both done eating that Blaine finally said, “I don’t exactly know how to phrase this, but I missed seeing you the last month.”

“Blaine…”

“I don’t want to be forward or assume anything. I just, I miss being your friend. And I’m sorry for how the… da…” Blaine had to stop himself from saying ‘date’ clearing his throat hoping that Kurt didn’t notice his slip, “evening ended on Valentine’s Day, that wasn’t fair to you.”

“Blaine,” Kurt interrupted him a second time, “I missed seeing you too. And you aren’t the one who kissed me; I kissed you first. You didn’t force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I still do.”

Blaine was speechless, he hadn’t considered the possibility of Kurt wanting to kiss him. The last part was said under his breath and almost into his coffee mug, but Blaine saw the words in Kurt’s eyes. Kurt wanted to kiss him, it wasn’t just because he was drunk, it wasn’t just because Blaine wanted him to, it was because Kurt wanted to kiss Blaine. _Kurt wanted to kiss Blaine_

“I do think we need some guidelines though.”

Blaine nodded, “Agreed. So no kissing.”

“Except on special occasions, holidays, birthdays, New Year’s.”

Blaine nodded. “What about hugs?”

Kurt smiled, “Hugs are welcome, encouraged even.”

Blaine returned his smile as Kurt explained. “And weekly dates with ‘the girls’ are mandatory.”

“Dates with the girls?” Blaine asked.

“Rachel, Mercedes, and I go out for martini’s on Wednesdays at Simone’s.”

“Mandatory?” Blaine asks with a hint of a smile and joke in his voice.

“Well, I guess you don’t have to come, but Rachel and Mercedes really want to get to know you better, and they have both invited you many times. I just… never asked.”

“No, it sounds fun. I’ll be there as quickly as I can close the shop.”

***  
Blaine was running late to meet everyone for martinis. He figured it couldn’t hurt, since he was running late, to make sure that he has a flower head for everyone. When he arrived, he pushed through the crowds, carefully so that he didn’t get a drink spilled on his mustard yellow pants or crush the flowers. When he finally found their table, Kurt was explaining something and gesturing with his hands. Blaine slipped into the seat, almost unnoticed. Mercedes nodded at him before turning back toward Kurt to hear the rest of the story.

When he finished, Blaine said hello and got up to give everyone a hug and their flower. Blaine grabbed a pink rose for Mercedes _grace_. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and thanked him. Sitting next to her was Kurt. He got a red rose and yellow rose, because together they mean ‘happiness and excitement’, which accurately summed up how Blaine was feeling tonight. He was happy to be friends with Kurt, to be able to spend time with him. Blaine would ultimately be happy just being friends with Kurt, he just felt a connection to him, a pull from his core towards Kurt. Blaine gave Kurt a tight hug to go with the two flowers and Kurt returned the hug equally as strongly and whispered thanks in his ear.

The last flower, a yellow rose, was for Rachel. Blaine gave her a hug and moved to give her a kiss on the cheek. Just as he did, she moved her head and their lips ended up meeting. Blaine froze, he wasn’t sure what to do, pulling back too soon would be very rude, but he also really didn’t want to be kissing Rachel. She moved her hands to his shoulders and deepened the kiss, holding him close. As soon as her tongue was licking at his lips, Blaine pulled away, making sure there was enough distance between them.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Blaine started, “Rachel, yellow roses mean friendship.”

He was trying to be subtle, to tell her to back off, but without being rude to Kurt’s best friend.

She laughed and said, “Oops, sorry.”

Blaine returned to his seat and placed his drink order with the waitress who had been standing awkwardly by. He wondered how much of that she had seen and what she thought was going on. As soon as she left the table, Kurt was on his feet, casting a seething glare Rachel’s direction and quietly stomping off towards the bathroom.

Blaine looked to Mercedes for help, she just shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head in the direction of the bathrooms. Blaine excused himself and as quickly as possible made his way behind Kurt. Blaine found him leaning against the sinks in the Men’s bathroom, water running and staring into the mirror.

“Kurt,” Blaine questioned cautiously, “Is everything ok?”

“Just peachy.”

“You stormed off, I didn’t mean to upset you, I just want to make sure you’re ok.”

“I’m fine, you can go back to _Rachel_ now.”

Blaine hesitated a second before reaching out and setting his hand on Kurt’s back. “You know that was an accident, right?”

“It didn’t look like one.” Kurt looked at Blaine in the mirror now; Blaine could see the tear streaks and red eyes.

Blaine sighed, “I tried to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned her head at the exact wrong moment. Then I guess she thought I meant to kiss her lips and held me there. Believe me, Kurt, kissing Rachel is the last thing I wanted to do tonight. Well…”

Kurt understood the joke and smiled slightly. He turned around so he can face Blaine while saying, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run off like that. God, I’m so stupid.”

Blaine rested both of his hands on Kurt’s shoulders, “Hey, no. You’re not. But do you want to tell me what’s going on? I get the feeling that this isn’t just about me.”

“Very perceptive.” Kurt had an impassive mask over his eyes. Blaine braced himself, because whatever Kurt was about to say was something that hurt him a lot. “Back when Troy and I were first dating, Rachel was convinced that he was just pretending to be with me to get with her. Stupid, I know, considering he is gay and she is decidedly not a man. Anyway, one night I had a party at my place and they were both there. She had a little bit too much to drink and Troy was still trying to impress my friends, so he just went along with it. Well, I left the room and when I came back maybe 10 minutes later, they were on the couch making out, and both half undressed.

I kicked them both out of my apartment. Rachel and I nearly ended our nine-year friendship and Troy and I broke up for a couple of weeks. It was the worst feeling. And watching Rachel kiss you, it was like I was reliving that moment all over again.”

Kurt’s head slumped forward and Blaine pulled him in to an awkward hug, holding him close and comforting him as best he could. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. I would never intentionally hurt you like that. If I’d known…”

Kurt looked up and Blaine used his thumbs to wipe the tears from his cheeks. Blaine leaned forward, against his better judgment, and kissed Kurt. Blaine could hear the surprised noise Kurt made before he deepened the kiss. Kurt opened his mouth and licked along Blaine’s lips until Blaine opened his mouth and Kurt’s tongue was stroking his own. Blaine tilted his head to the side, deepening the kiss more. Their hands wrapped around each of their backs and pulled their bodies flush together, Kurt moaned softly at the contact.

The kiss was dirty, passionate, hard, fast, and the somewhat forbidden nature of it making it all the more hot. Before long, Blaine was rutting into Kurt’s hip, his hard cock brushing against him. Blaine could feel Kurt’s hard length against his leg, all it took was one thrust before Kurt realized what they were doing and stepped back. Blaine reached forward to follow him; he opened his eyes when he didn’t easily find Kurt.

Blaine raised his eyebrows in question, to which Kurt responded, “We can’t do this here.”

Blaine nodded and adjusted himself in his tight pants. Before leaving the bathroom, Kurt leaned in for a long chaste kiss.

Blaine was the first one out of the bathroom, and just outside the door, Kurt rested his hand on Blaine’s ass and said, “These pants look really hot on you.” He turned around and smiled brightly back at Kurt.

When they got back to the table, Mercedes and Rachel had cornered one of the waiters, who looked like he desperately wants to escape, or maybe cut his ears off. He can finally make his escape when Rachel shifts her attention back to Kurt saying, “I’m sorry.”

Kurt brushed her off, instead asking Mercedes about the new gig she had coming up. The conversation flowed smoothly, everyone talking and laughing. But Blaine noticed that Rachel kept glancing between him and Kurt and trying to ask a non-verbal question. He could only imagine what she wanted to ask. She finally got her chance when they left the bar, linking her arm through Kurt’s and leading him down the street. Despite the fact that they were walking quite a few feet in front of him, Rachel was loud when sober and only gets louder the more she drinks, so Blaine could hear her asking “What was that, are you ok?” and “Is there something between you and Blaine?” He can’t make out Kurt’s answer, but can imagine what Kurt might be saying and it makes his heart pang slightly to know that Kurt doesn’t think that what they are doing, is something.

Blaine turned towards his apartment a couple of blocks early; he needed to be alone.

***  
Blaine was on the phone talking to one of his suppliers when Kurt walked in. Blaine wasn’t expecting him, it had been less than 24 hours since they last saw each other _since you last kissed_ Blaine’s brain supplies unhelpfully. Blaine waved Kurt in as he finished up on the phone, making sure he has all the flowers he needed for the two weddings over the weekend. Of course he had two Bridezillas with matching Momzillas to deal with this weekend, demanding fresh, locally NYC grown, organic flowers for their weddings, despite the fact that they were getting married in March. He was reasonably convinced that the two brides were best friends and were just trying to fuck with him.

“Thanks Lauren. You are a lifesaver. I’ll see you first thing on Saturday.” Blaine put down the phone and turned to see Kurt standing, looking uncomfortable, in his doorway.

“Hey, Kurt! How are you?”

“I’m… fine. Can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s up?” Blaine was trying to keep the conversation casual, and trying to look like he wasn’t panicking, but underneath, he was really worried about what Kurt was about to say.

“It might be easier if we went into the back room to talk, if that’s all right. Otherwise I can come back another time, or just talk to you later. It’s not really that Important. I can just…”

Blaine cut Kurt off saying, “Kurt! It’s fine. Just flip the sign to say closed.”

Blaine walked back into his prep room and Kurt followed shortly behind him, “Sorry its messy back here, I was taking inventory and trying to figure out how to do the flowers for the weddings this weekend.”

Kurt nodded, taking in the mess of flowers and ribbon across the table. There was a small piece of ribbon near where he was standing; he picked it up, rubbing it between his fingers.

Blaine watched him carefully. He almost didn’t look like the Kurt Blaine knew. He seemed nervous and unsure, two words he had never used to describe Kurt; never thought he would ever use to describe him. Blaine waited, not wanting to rush him, but also becoming more nervous by the minute as he waited for Kurt to say something.

After a long silence, Kurt finally started speaking, “I… Blaine, I am so glad that I met you. You are one of my best friends, I enjoy spending time with you and it just feels natural. Like I’ve known you forever, when it has been barely a year, and even then, not really. It felt easy the first time I met you, when you were first explaining what the flowers mean before my wedding.”

“Ok.” Blaine wasn’t sure where the conversation was going, but he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to know. “Why do I feel like there is a ‘but’ coming?”

“But,” Kurt smiled sadly at Blaine, “We can’t do this any more. I can’t do this anymore. I am hurting Troy. He’s my husband, Blaine. Fuck, I’m married. I can’t…”

Blaine nodded, he knew. What they had been doing under the guise of friendship was more than, well than any friendship he’d ever had. Hell, it was more than most of his romantic relationships.

“Ok. What do you need me to do?”

Kurt paused, looking in Blaine’s eyes, “I… nothing. You’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve been perfect Blaine. Its me that needs to change.” Kurt sighed.

Blaine could only nod. Kurt took a step towards Blaine, slowly moving into his personal space. With every step Kurt took, Blaine stepped back a half step, and before long he was backed up against the table. Kurt moved into his personal space, cupping his cheek in his palm. Kurt looked down and then up into Blaine’s eyes.

Blaine wasn’t sure what Kurt was doing, but he seemed to be making a decision. Without warning, Kurt pressed forward, crashing his lips onto Blaine’s own, eliciting a surprised gasp. Kurt licked into Blaine’s open mouth, stroking Blaine’s tongue with his own. Kurt’s arms had wrapped around Blaine’s back, holding him in place. Blaine moved his hands up to rest on Kurt’s shoulders, kissing him back just as fiercely.

Before long, Blaine’s brain clicked back in and realized what he was doing. He gently pushed Kurt back. Kurt’s arms were still holding Blaine close, Blaine asked, “What are we doing?”

Kurt didn’t waver, he held Blaine’s eyes saying, “I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago. I’m falling for you. I have been dreaming about kissing you for months. Please.”

“What about Troy?”

Kurt sighed, “He’s not the one I’m in love with. I’m in love with you, Blaine.”

Blaine is sure he looks ridiculous, his mouth gaping at Kurt’s confession. He has to consciously tell his mouth to close. He looks into Kurt’s eyes for a long minute before saying, “I think I’ve been in love with you since the first time you came into my shop. Kurt…”

Kurt cuts Blaine off with a searing kiss, framing his face with both of his hands. Blaine pulls Kurt in between his legs, holding him as close as physically possible. Kurt moved his kisses across Blaine’s cheek and down his jaw to his neck, kissing down the long column right along his vein, pausing to gently nip at a spot just above Blaine’s shoulder. Blaine let out a low moan, his head falling to Kurt’s neck, exposing more skin for Kurt. He continued to nip and suck at Blaine’s skin, until Blaine was sure there was going to be a giant red hickey there all afternoon.

Blaine’s fingers work their way under Kurt’s sweater and shirt to the skin at the small of his back. Gasping at the feel of warm soft skin combined with Kurt’s mouth on his neck. He gasped, “Kurt. Kiss me.”

He smirks, “I thought I was.”

Blaine could only whimper as Kurt’s mouth found his again. He put everything he had in the kiss, every feeling he’d ever had for Kurt that he couldn’t express otherwise was in that kiss. Kurt’s hands deftly undid Blaine’s bowtie and started unbuttoning his shirt. As soon as it was undone, Kurt’s hands were running across Blaine’s chest, caressing the warm skin. Blaine slides his hands downward, under the waistband of Kurt’s pants, discovering he was not wearing anything underneath.

Blaine broke the kiss to say, “Oh god. You’re not wearing underwear.”

“Nope,” Kurt rubbed his fingers over one of Blaine’s nipples, “Not if I don’t want visible lines in these pants.” Kurt pushed Blaine’s shirt off his shoulders and Blaine removed his hands just long enough for Kurt to remove his shirt. He started kissing and licking down Blaine’s chest.

Blaine shifted his hands back into Kurt’s pants, running a single finger over his hole, which caused Kurt’s hips to thrust forward, his hard cock bumping against Blaine’s hip. Blaine repeated the motion, meeting Kurt’s hips halfway, slotting them together so their dicks rubbed together. Kurt moaned, “Oh, god.”

Its all the encouragement Blaine needed to continue the motion, getting them both worked up. Kurt was no longer kissing at his chest, instead he was just leaning against Blaine, panting. After the next thrust Kurt said, “Need… more…unh.”

Blaine couldn’t agree more, he moved his hands from Kurt’s pants, unbuttoning them, while Kurt worked on taking off his shirt and sweater. Blaine tries to take Kurt’s pants off over his shoes, causing Kurt to slap him slightly on the shoulder and say, “Shoes.”

Blaine looked down and paused just long enough for Kurt to kick off his shoes before he removed his pants. As soon as Kurt was naked, Blaine pulls him back into a kiss, holding him close, hands running in a long line from his shoulders to his ass.

Kurt broke the kiss saying, as his hands started on the button of Blaine’s jeans, “You’re wearing entirely too many clothes.”

In a matter of seconds Blaine had removed his shoes and pants, then his lips were on Kurt’s, kissing him and slotting their bodies together. Their hips moved together, creating delicious friction, but not enough. Kurt was the first one to say as much.

“Condoms? Lube?” Blaine asked, but it came out more of a moan than actual words. Somehow Kurt understood and shook his head sadly.

“Fuck, ok.” Blaine said as he spun them around so Kurt was leaning against the table. Blaine lifted him up slightly so he was propped on the edge. Blaine began to lay him down as Kurt scooted further up on the table, kissing the entire time. They scoot up until Kurt was lying almost entirely on the table, and Blaine was covering him.

Blaine moved to lick one of Kurt’s nipples and Kurt’s hands wandered and caressed Blaine’s ass. Before long, they were thrusting together, and Kurt moved his hand to encircle their cocks, sliding his hand over them both. Their rhythm shifted, slower, less frantic, trying to make every second last. Kurt rolled them over on top of some orange lilies, the flowers crushing under their combined weight.

“Oh shit,” Kurt said, “We’re crushing your flowers.”

“Don’t care. Want you,” was all Blaine managed, as Kurt quickened the pace of his hand.

Blaine threw his head back, getting poked in the head with rose thorns, “Ow.”

Kurt looked up into Blaine’s face his hand stilling, “Ow?”

“I… rose thorn… Don’t stop.” Blaine babbled incoherently. He was so close.

Kurt kissed him and sped up his hand and before long, they were both coming, seconds apart. Kurt collapsed on top of Blaine, kissing him chastely and rolling slightly to the side, snuggled in to Blaine’s side. Blaine held him close, running his hand down Kurt’s back as far as he could reach.

Kurt ran his fingers through the mostly dried mess of come and sweat on Blaine’s stomach. He whispered, “God, you are so beautiful.”

Blaine smiled and kissed the top of Kurt’s head, “You’re not bad looking yourself.”

“We should get cleaned up,” Kurt leaned up to kiss Blaine’s mouth one more time.

Blaine’s arms tightened around Kurt, “Not yet. Basking.”

Kurt’s laugh was light and happy as he settled back down on Blaine. Blaine’s heart melted just a little at the sound. Blaine could feel Kurt reaching around behind himself.

Kurt grabbed one of the flowers stuck to his ass and pulled it out and brought it up to look at it. As soon as Blaine saw it, he started laughing. Kurt asked, “What?”

Between gasps of laughter, Blaine managed to splutter, “It’s an… orange lily.”

Kurt turned the crushed flower around in his hand. “Yeah…”

“It means desire or passion.” Blaine broke into an even bigger fit of laughter and Kurt joined him once it hit him.

It took a while, but eventually Kurt regained enough composure to ask, “You mean, we just had sex on a bed of flowers, that mean desire or passion.”

Blaine nodded, laughing. Kurt dropped his head on to Blaine’s chest and shook it slightly. They snuggled closer, enjoying the closeness. Blaine was just about asleep when he heard the chimes at the front door go off. He startled awake and whispered to Kurt, “Did you lock the door?”

Kurt looked over his shoulder to the door to the back room, nodding then adding, “I forgot to lock the front door though.”

“If we are silent, maybe they will just leave.” Blaine whispered. Kurt nodded; cursing whichever power thought it was wise to send someone to interrupt them at that exact moment.

“Hello,” the voice coming from the front of the shop was familiar, and it took Blaine a minute to place it, Troy.

“Blaine? Are you in the back?”

Kurt had now placed the voice. “Fuck!” he exclaimed in a whisper and flung himself off of Blaine, grabbing his pants and throwing Blaine’s towards him.

“Yeah, I am. Just a second though.” Blaine called up to the front, hoping his voice sounded close to normal.

Blaine dressed as quickly as possible, forgoing putting the bowtie back on and pushed a panicking Kurt down into his desk chair saying, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Blaine went out to the front and said, “What do you want, Troy?”

Troy looked slightly puzzled at Blaine, “I wanted to buy flowers. For Kurt. He’s seemed a bit off lately, and I thought they might cheer him up a bit.”

“Sure.” Blaine swallowed heavily, concentrating on keeping his voice as normal as possible, “What were you thinking?”

“You know what Kurt likes.” Blaine blinked at him, not trusting himself to say anything. Troy continued, “Dahlias. He likes dahlias.”

Blaine nodded, heading over to the bucket of flowers, pulling a large handful out. He arranged them with vines of ivy _dependence_. As Blaine was arranging them, he wasn’t sure who he wanted Kurt to depend on, but he could only selfishly hope that it would be him and not Troy. He handed the bouquet over.

“How much?”

“Uh… Twenty-five.” Blaine really wanted Troy to leave. He knew this had to be torture for Kurt, who could probably hear every word in the back room.

“Do you want to come over for dinner sometime? Maybe this weekend?” Troy asked.

“I can’t. I have two weddings this weekend. Actually I need to get back to it. I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, see you later.” Troy walked out of the shop, and Blaine locked the front door behind him. As quick as he could, he returned to the back room. Kurt was pacing back and forth along the back wall, the crushed orange lily in his hand. Kurt was shaking his head as he paced, it looked like he might be whispering to himself. Blaine walked over and stopped him with hands on his shoulders. Kurt looked Blaine in the eye before shaking his head again and trying to turn out of Blaine’s grip.

Blaine managed to hold him still and said, “Stop. Talk to me. Please.”

This managed to at least bring Kurt back into the present, it seems to calm him down slightly. Blaine would take whatever he can get, he needed to talk to Kurt, figure out what he’s thinking and where they go from here.

“What are you thinking?”

“I can’t do this. I don’t think I can tell Troy that I’m not as in love with him as I am with you. I can’t hurt him, he loves me, with his whole heart. He gave it to me, and I can’t be the one to break it.”

“What about your own heart? Who is protecting yours?”

Kurt looked at Blaine, clearly this was something he hadn’t considered. “It… doesn’t matter.”

Blaine was saddened by Kurt even considering the thought that his heart didn’t matter, that his heart was less important than Troy’s. It also made Blaine’s heart swell, because the man he was in love with, cared so much for someone else that he would live in pain to protect the one he loved.

“Kurt.” Blaine started, pausing after just one word, making sure every word was the right one so his message is clear, “That’s not even a little bit true, your heart matters. It matters to me, and I can tell it matters to you, because of how sad you look right now. I’m saying this, not as the man who is in love with you, but as your friend. You need to do what is right for you, what makes your heart soar. If being with Troy will do that, then that is what you need to do. If not being with him will make you happy, then you should end it. If being with me is what will make you happy, then I would be honored to be the one to protect your heart, as long as you’ll let me.

“But please don’t make your decision because it will hurt me, or hurt Troy. I care about you too much for that.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand in the middle of his speech, and was holding them on Kurt’s heart.

There were tears welling in Kurt’s eyes and Blaine pulled him into a hug. Blaine could feel the dampness from Kurt’s tears soaking into his shirt, and the thought of him crying made his heart ache.

Kurt pulled out of the hug and said, “I need to go back to Troy. I…can’t bear hurting him. I love him enough to know that.”

Blaine nodded, “What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. Just be your completely adorable and loveable self.” Kurt pressed a chaste kiss to Blaine’s lips and started to walk towards the door. Blaine followed him out into the front room “I don’t regret it, any of it. I meant every word I said, I still do. Goodbye, Blaine.”

Blaine stood frozen in place as he watched Kurt walk out of his shop, turning back as he shut the door behind him, smiling sadly and giving a small wave.


	4. Purple Carnation

“Come on, Blaine. It’s been two weeks.” Wes pleaded, standing awkwardly in the middle of the shop while Blaine buzzed around him, reorganizing all of the flowers. “What are you doing anyway? Weren’t the flowers already organized properly?”

“It was time for a change,” Blaine said as he moved buckets of flowers around.

“But you’ve been here for nearly two years and had the same rainbow arrangement the whole time.”

“Exactly, that’s why its time for a change.”

There were long stems of grass next to peonies and Acadia. The colors mixed harshly and there was no real flow to the shop. The mixture of colors and textures was overwhelming, there was nowhere for his eyes to rest. “So what is this new ordering system then?”

“Alphabetical.” Blaine stated matter-of-factly.

Wes looked confused at the plants, he was no expert, but he knew enough to know that sunflowers and amaryllis were not next to each other in any alphabet he was familiar with. “So you’re translating the names into Italian and then alphabetizing them?”

Blaine stopped and turned to face Wes, holding a bucket of lilies, “No…” Blaine looked around the shop, trying to understand Wes’ confusion, eventually it dawned on him, “Oh! They are organized alphabetically by meaning.”

Blaine pointed towards some of the flowers, “S's over there, submission, shame, and secret love. Ps right next to them here, pride and pure thoughts.”

“I see.” Wes took in the shop again, it looked chaotic, and left him feeling ill at ease, he decided to just watch Blaine instead, which didn’t make him feel much better. “So this is all about Kurt then?”

This time Blaine dropped the bucket he was carrying over to the S's, Lilly of the Valley, and the tiny flowers scattered across the floor. “What? No! It has nothing to do with him, I just… I needed a change.”

“Uh, huh. Which is why you’ve been avoiding my calls for the last two weeks and ignored Sara when she stopped by your apartment over the weekend.” Blaine blanched at his words, Wes knew he was being a little harsh, but he hated to see his friend hurting. “Blaine, you should get out. Come over for dinner tonight, please?”

Blaine stared at Wes for a long minute before nodding in agreement.

“I’ll see you at eight then,” Wes said as he walked out the door.

Blaine surveyed his shop it really was a disaster. His brilliant plan turned out to be less than brilliant, and was really verging on horrible. Blaine had never really thought about how bad flowers could look when they were placed in the wrong combinations, not just by meaning, but also by size, shape, texture, color, and just the general feel of the flower. He moved the last few buckets to the side; he was going to have to start from scratch in the morning.

Just as he was contemplating calling it a day and going home to take a long nap before going over to Wes and Sara’s, a customer walked in. Blaine helped the man, who came in almost once a week, as quickly as possible. The shop surprised the man; Blaine could tell by the way his eyes were traveling around the shop, uneasy and never really taking everything in. Blaine sold him the bouquet and sent him on his way, closing the shop behind him and beginning to plan how he was going to fix the layout.

The next morning Blaine stopped at Greenwich Kitchen to get coffee before heading to the shop. When Blaine unlocked the door and stepped inside, he was struck by the chaotic colors. He saw that assault Wes was talking about. He set to work reorganizing the blooms; first Blaine tried just alphabetizing them by English name, it was better, but still lacked the beautiful flow he was used to. Then he tried organizing them by Latin categorization and then by petal and leaf shape and size. None of the arrangements were quite right. The colors were abrasive and deep reds were next to bright yellows. Blaine knew that he had to change it back to the smoothly flowing rainbow, but it just made him think of Kurt.

Blaine was grateful when a customer entered the shop. He said brightly, “Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?”

The man looked around briefly before saying, “I’m looking for a flower.”

“Of course.” Blaine smiled, “What sort of message would you like to send?”

“Uh… I guess something like, ‘I’m sorry he’s dead, but not that sorry, he was just a dog and you shouldn’t have loved him more than me’.”

Blaine is both shocked and confused by what the man says, “Can you give me a little more information?”

“Well, my wife’s dog just died. He was a little bastard. It was this small yippy dog that she carried around in her purse. She would let the little shit sleep between us in the bed and didn’t care that I am allergic. I hated that dog, and I am glad that it accidently ate the cherry pits I put out for it.” The man stops speaking for a minute before muttering, “I’m so glad its dead.”

Blaine was flabbergasted; he can’t believe that this man had so much hate in his heart that he would intentionally poison an animal. “You know…” He started, and then took a step forward and shouted, “Get out of my shop.”

Blaine was crowding the man towards the door, “What? Why? I want to buy flowers. That’s your job.”

“My job is to create beautiful arrangements to bring joy and happiness. Not spread malicious will. Get the fuck out of my shop.”

The man was taken aback and said before walking out of the shop, “I’m never shopping here again.”

“Good! You’re not welcome here!”

Blaine was convinced that if he were a cartoon character, there would be smoke coming out of his ears, he couldn’t believe this asshole poisoned his wife’s dog and then expected him to create a flower arrangement to console her. No way. The chimes over the door sounded, and Blaine took a moment to school his face into a more polite expression before turning around. The expression didn’t last long as he saw his brother standing in his shop.

“Cooper! What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was in the neighborhood so I thought I’d stop by, and see how you’re doing. But on my way down the street, I met a man who was ranting to everyone he encountered on the street about how you are a terrible shop owner and everyone should boycott your shop. What did you do?”

Blaine blushed and looked down, “I told him to get out because he poisoned his wife’s dog and then wanted to get her condolence flowers.”

“Blaine, you should have sold him the flowers. Wait? He poisoned the dog? How do you know?”

“He told me. Point blank.”

Cooper laughed, “Wow, that guy is an idiot. I can’t believe he told you that. But that’s not the real reason I’m here.”

“I figured.” Blaine walked behind the counter, picking up flowers to finish organizing them. He still wasn’t satisfied with the arrangement, and will most likely move it back to the rainbow he had before. “Why are you here, then?”

“Wes called me and said that you were depressed.”

“I can’t trust any of my friends anymore.” Blaine muttered with his back to Cooper. He turned around before asking, “What did he tell you?”

“Not much actually. Just that you had your heart ripped out and stomped on and he was out of ideas and I should come cheer you up.” Cooper put his hand on Blaine’s shoulder, “So what do you say to closing the shop and taking an early lunch, I doubt you’ll get too many customers in the next hour with that guy still on the streets.”

Blaine sighed and nodded, grabbing his coat before following Cooper out of the shop.

***  
Cooper took Blaine to the most expensive restaurant within a mile of Floriography. Which, admittedly was not the most expensive in the city, but it was at least $15 per plate more than Blaine typically spent on a meal out. Blaine protested, but Cooper just used the excuse of being an up-and-coming movie star, which was sort of true. Cooper was starring in the new _Hunger Games_ movie, but he was just a citizen of the capitol. Although it did mean that Blaine got to laugh at the ridiculous costume they put him in. Blaine secretly hoped that he would be in a pink frock with teal accents, something that would really make Kurt cringe. Of course, the second he thought about Kurt, his heart sunk into his feet, he lost his appetite, and Blaine was sure his face fell as well.

“… filming should start next month. But I’m going to head to the area in like two wee… What’s wrong Blaine?”

“Hm… nothing.”

“Nuh uh. No you don’t. I know what your face looks like when you are miserable. I’ve let you dodge the topic this long, so spill.”

“Alright. About a year ago, I met this guy, Kurt. He came into the shop, and I was doing the flowers for his wedding…” Blaine told Cooper the entire story over lunch, dessert, and coffee. It was well into the afternoon before Blaine finished the story, only leaving out some of the details about having sex on his worktable. Cooper would enjoy that entirely too much. “So, what should I do?”

Cooper, who had been uncharacteristically quiet through Blaine’s story, only adding small noises to encourage Blaine to keep going, had to be dying to speak. “I… Honestly?”

Blaine nodded, “At this point, I hope you would at least have enough decency to tell me what you honestly think.”

“I wish this could work for you. A guy like Kurt is perfect for you. But he’s married, and not willing to end that any time soon. So I think you need to get a little perspective. Maybe go back to Ohio and visit Mom and Dad for a while. See some of your friends from Dalton. Hell, maybe you can find a one-night stand at that god awful gay bar. I think it would do you a little good to get away. When was the last time you took a vacation, anyway?”

“Coop, I own my own store. I don’t get vacations. Besides who would watch my shop? I can’t just close for a week.”

“I’ll do it.”

Blaine looked at Cooper, surprised. “You’ve never even liked flowers…”

“But I want to stay in the city for a while, and you need to get out. I’ll watch your shop, I won’t sell anything hideous, hell you can make lists for me and I’ll just take care of everything. I’ll even housesit, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Blaine looked skeptical, “So you’ll do this out of the goodness of your heart?”

Cooper looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, “Alright, fine. I’ve got an interview in the city later this week, and I was hoping you’d let me sleep on your couch. But if you’re gone, I can sleep in your bed.” He added almost as an afterthought, “And I’ll keep your shop open.”

“I really shouldn’t let you, but you’re right. A vacation would do me good.”

“Blainers, when are you going to learn, I’m always right!”

“Don’t call me Blainers.” Blaine fixed him with his best death glare, but Cooper just laughed and reached across the table to ruffle Blaine’s hair.

***  
Blaine took a cab to the airport the next morning, he left earlier than was strictly necessary, but with the morning rush hour, and having to check a bag, he wasn’t sure how long it was going to take.

Of course, because he allowed two and a half hours, it only took a half hour to get to the airport and then another 15 minutes to get through security and to his gate. Blaine was sitting at his gate with a venti Starbucks when his phone rang. Blaine answered it without checking the ID, and immediately kicked himself for not checking it first when he hears the sweet smooth voice he’d been dreaming about and dreading for weeks over the line.

“Hey, Blaine! How are you?”

“Uh… Hi, Kurt. I’m fine, how are you?” Blaine tried to keep his voice neutral, void of emotion, void of anything that would give away his hurting heart.

“I’m doing well. I was just in the neighborhood and I was wondering if you were going to be at your shop this morning and wanted coffee? I wanted to come talk to you.”

“Kurt. I can’t. You’ve made your position very clear, and I am doing my best to respect that. I’m not going to be in the shop today. Bye, Kurt.”

“Blaine, wait! Where…” Blaine hung up the phone before Kurt could finish his question. It caused Blaine pain to hang up on Kurt, but the whole point of the trip to Ohio is to get away from New York and from Kurt for a while.

***  
Kurt stared at his phone when he realized Blaine hung up on him. Instead of heading to Greenwich Kitchen, he turned around and headed straight back to Floriography. When he got there, there was a tall man standing behind the counter, his dark hair swept off his face. If Kurt squinted just a little bit, he could see that this man looked a little like Blaine.

Kurt walked in, almost expecting Blaine’s friendly greeting, but instead he was met with Cooper saying sleepily, “ Mm’ goo’ mornin’”

“I guess I should have brought that coffee anyway…” Kurt muttered to himself.

“Coffee?” the man perked up behind the counter.

“Oh, I was going to bring Blaine coffee this morning.”

Cooper looked at him speculatively for a minute before saying, “You’re him, aren’t you.”

“I’m sorry”

“You’re the man Blaine’s in love with and can’t be with him.”

Kurt blushed, “Yeah, that’d be me. Who are you?”

The man reached out a hand, “I’m Cooper, Blaine’s older brother.”

Kurt shook his hand firmly before Cooper said, “So what are you doing here?”

Kurt is taken aback by the near attack from Cooper. He stuttered, “I… uh… I came here to talk to Blaine. To apologize to Blaine. I just need to talk to him, do you know where he is, he isn’t answering my calls.”

“He’s on his way to Ohio. What do you need to tell him?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you this. I don’t know you.” Kurt paused thoughtfully, but he came here this morning to talk to Blaine, and really needs to talk to someone. He felt like he was about to explode, “I broke up with my husband.”

Cooper nodded, pulling out his phone and sending a quick text. “You look like you need someone to talk to.”

“I need to talk to Blaine.”

Cooper sighed lightly, “Are you really done with your husband?”

“I told him I was in love with someone else. I told him I couldn’t be married to him anymore. I broke his heart.” Kurt’s voice broke on the last word.

Cooper nodded and handed Kurt his phone, “Call the airline, and tell them you need to get on the 10am flight to Columbus. Make up some excuse to get them to hold the plane.”

As soon as Cooper finished the sentence, a woman walked through the door.

“You texted me, what is the emergency. How have you managed to fuck up Blaine’s shop after only twenty minutes?” Lauren barked. “God, I don’t know why he trusts you.”

Cooper nodded meaningfully to where Kurt was talking to the airline and mouthed ‘that’s him’ to her. She nodded and walked behind the counter.

“God, what would Blaine do without you?” She kissed his cheek.

“You are amazing, you go from hating me to kissing me in less than a minute. I haven’t even had my coffee yet.”

“Well, you’re in luck, I am going to make a quick run to Greenwich Kitchen and get some to go coffees, because I haven’t had one yet either, and Kurt over there looks like he could use one too.”

Cooper made a sign that said ‘What kind of coffee do you want?’ and handed him a pen. As soon as he finished writing Cooper headed out the door to get three large coffees, it was going to be a long, stressful morning.

When Kurt hung up the phone, Lauren was on him. “So you’re the guy. Mr. Lavender Roses, the one who has Blaine head over heals.”

Kurt blushed slightly, “Yeah. Does everyone know about that?”

“Blaine told most of his friends about you. He has been in love with you since he gave you that first lavender rose.”

“I’m starting to figure that out.”

Lauren put her hand on Kurt’s shoulder nodding. “But, you are figuring it out. At the same time that Blaine is trying to figure himself out.” Kurt looked confused, so she continues, “That’s what he’s going back to Ohio to do. He’s going back to figure out what he wants, and to try to get over you. Were you able to get on the flight?”

“Oh.” Kurt was silent for a moment before answering her second question, “Yeah, I was. There were mechanical issues with the plane anyway, so I need to get going to the airport.”

“Cooper is going to drive you as soon as he gets back with your coffee.” Kurt smiled, albeit slightly sadly, at Lauren, he likes her already. “Oh, come here, you look like you need a hug.”

Kurt melted into her arms, and stayed there for a long minute. It just felt good to have someone hugging him, and she gave such good hugs.

“Damn it, don’t tell me you are now falling in love with her. I don’t think Blaine’s heart can take it.” Cooper said walking back into the shop.

Both Kurt and Lauren laughed. Lauren said, “He has the wrong parts” at the same time he said “She has the wrong parts.”

They smiled at each other. For the first time in days Kurt had a genuine smile on his face.

“Good, then let’s get going. We’ve got a plane to catch and a boy to win over.”

Kurt followed Cooper out of the shop. Lauren called after them, “Good luck!”

Kurt got in the passenger seat of Cooper’s BMW X3 SUV. “Holy shit, this is a nice car.”

“Top of the line. Drives like a dream. Best car I’ve ever owned.”

“Why, exactly do you have a car in New York City?”

“Um… because I want one.” There was no arguing with that, Kurt just nodded and sipped his coffee. “So, spill. What happened between you and your husband?”

“Ex-husband. God, that sounds weird.” Cooper nodded, but remained quiet giving Kurt the chance to continue at his own pace. “About two weeks ago, I visited Blaine at the shop, and things… got a little out of hand.”

“You had sex with him,” Cooper stated as a matter of fact.

Kurt blushed and nodded, “Anyway, Troy walked out of the shop and I pretty much just ran away from Blaine.”

_Kurt walked into the apartment, feeling guilty and like the biggest asshole in the world. Of course, Troy was in the kitchen, apron tied around his waist, making shrimp gumbo. On the table were the beautiful bouquet of orange and red dahlias that Troy requested, and Blaine so delicately and purposefully arranged, elegance. Kurt touched one of the blooms gently, the petals smooth under his fingertips. It’s all he could do to contain the sob that threatened and tightens his throat._

_“Hey, babe. Glad you’re home. I’m making dinner.” Troy said without turning around._

_Kurt took a deep breath and mustered up all the courage he could before walking over to Troy and wrapping his arms around his stomach. Kurt kissed his ear, “Hi, honey.”_

_Kurt’s breath was too soft, too light, too close to tears, and Troy heard it, turning around in Kurt’s arms to ask, “Rough day?”_

_“You could say that.” Kurt leaned in to gently press his lips to Troy’s. “Dinner smells great.”_

_“Mmhm, it should be ready in about ten minutes.” Troy rubbed comforting circles on Kurt’s back, but Kurt couldn’t find comfort in the touch._

_“Ok, I’m going to run and change,” Kurt walked out of his arms and Troy turned around to finish cooking the meal._

_Fifteen minutes later, Kurt and Troy were sitting down to dinner, the flowers on the table flanked by two lit candlesticks. The gumbo was delicious, one of Troy’s specialties, and one of Kurt’s favorites. Troy never let Kurt help him make it, because it was his secret recipe. They ate in companionable silence, chatting occasionally about work and the interesting people they ran into on the subway._

_After dinner, Troy leaves the dishes on the table, takes Kurt’s hand and pulls him over to the couch. Kurt looks at him, questions written all over his face, before he can say anything Troy answers them, “You looked like you needed cuddles more than the dishes needed to be soaked.”_

_He pulled Kurt down onto the couch, holding him tight. Troy was just patiently waiting for Kurt to talk to him; he always did, in his own time._

_After a long time of just sitting in silence and cuddling, Troy wasn’t sure if Kurt had fallen asleep, just as he was about to pick him up and carry him into the bedroom, Kurt started to speak._

_“I love you, you know I do. But I…” Kurt wasn’t sure how to continue the sentence, he had to, but whatever he said, no matter how he phrased it, he was going to break Troy’s heart. “I… I don’t know if we love each other enough to make this work.”_

_Troy pushed away from Kurt to look at him, hurt already evident in his eyes, ‘What are you saying?”_

_“I am more in love with someone else than you.” Kurt barely whispered out._

_“Blaine?”_

_Kurt turned, shocked, “Wha… How?”_

_“I’ve had a feeling for a while.”_

_Kurt nodded, tears finally leaking out of his eyes. “I’m sorry.”_

_“Don’t be.” Troy’s voice was soft and broken now too, “Do you remember what we promised when we first started dating?”_

_Kurt watched him, confused. “We said that we would stay together only as long as we made each other the happiest we could possibly be. You deserve to be happy, Kurt. I deserve to be happy. If you love someone else more than me, then we have reached our end.”_

_“I didn’t want it to end like this,” Kurt choked out, voice breaking in the middle, almost sobbing._

_“Neither did I. But I love you enough to let you go. I only hope you love me enough to do the same. I want you to be happy, more than I want to be the one to make you happy.”_

_“God damn it, why did I have to be so stupid.”_

_Troy, despite his broken heart, still had it in him to pull Kurt close and hold him while he cried, saying, “Shhh, you’re not. You fell in love with someone else. I can’t hold that against you.”_

_Kurt pulled back to look him in the eye, “But what about you?”_

_“Then I get to fall in love with someone again, too.” Troy was quiet for a long minute, Kurt wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t what Troy says next, voice watery and thin, “I have just one question. Can we still be friends? I can’t imagine my life without you in it, somehow.”_

_Kurt leaned in close, brushing his lips against Troy’s cheek, “I can’t imagine my life without you in it either. Friends?”_

_“Special friends with history.” Kurt nodded in agreement. “And I get the apartment.” Troy added, almost as an afterthought to their deal._

_Kurt nodded he would give him anything. He was also sure that if Troy had come to him with this news, he would not have handled it this gracefully. Kurt wiped his eyes, “If you ever need a letter of recommendation for the next person you fall in love with, you know you can count on me.”_

_Troy laughed through his tears; Kurt joined him. It felt almost like old times, but with the weight of expectation lifted._

_“I should probably go.” Kurt said, not making any effort to move._

_“Yeah.” Troy pressed a kiss to Kurt’s lips before gently pushing him off the couch._

_“We’ll figure out the stuff later, yeah?”_

_Troy nodded, watching as Kurt gathered his bag, coat, and shoes and walked out of their apartment._

“He was so, so great about the whole thing. I can’t believe I am breaking his heart.” Kurt said to Cooper as they enter the airport.

Cooper was silent until he stopped the car in front of the drop off, then he turned to face Kurt and asked, “Do you love Blaine enough to give up everything?”

Kurt didn’t hesitate, “Yes. I do.”

“Then you are doing the right thing, and Troy will recover, so will you, and so will Blaine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Cooper smirked, “I’m always right. Now go get him. You’ve got a plane to catch and only fifteen minutes to do so!”

***  
Kurt raced through the terminal, thankful that he had asked the woman on the phone to send his boarding pass to his phone, so he could just run through security and race to the gate, dodging groups of tourists just landing to spend their spring break in the city. Kurt nearly bowled over a family with two small children, muttering an apology as he ran past. He was pretty sure he heard one of the parents say “Look at these New Yorkers, always in such a hurry.”

When he reached the gate, the agent scanned his ticked and said, “Glad you made it Mr. Hummel.”

Kurt walked down the jet way, taking the extra 45 seconds to catch is breath and adjust his clothes, which had shifted out of place while he was running. He paused at the door to the plane, taking a deep breath. He had been planning this moment since he got in the car with Cooper an hour ago, how he was going to go about winning Blaine back. Kurt smiled at the flight attendant, apologizing for his tardiness before heading to his seat.

Kurt spotted Blaine five rows before he was standing next to him. Thankfully, Blaine was engrossed in his book, and not paying any attention to the passenger walking down the aisle past him. Kurt thanked the powers that be, who put him catty-corner behind Blaine, and that this is a plane with only to seats on either side, making his plan so much more effective.

Kurt could see that Blaine had headphones in, rather than disturb him yet, he waited until the announcement was made that he has to remove them for takeoff. As soon as the flight attendants finished their safety demonstration and the plane had taxied away from the gate and was now waiting in line to take off, Kurt started humming, under his breath at first then a little louder.

_And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket_  
But I've got to get a move on with my life  
It's time to be a big girl now  
And big girls don't cry 

***  
Blaine could hear the soft humming, and he wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but he needed them to stop. It was making him think of Kurt, and the whole point of this trip was to get away from Kurt and figure out what he wanted for himself.

Blaine tried to ignore the humming, but it was getting steadily louder, he wondered why no one else was bothered by it. Which was, of course, when the person started singing:

“Like the little school mate in the school yard.” Blaine looked around the plane, in front of him people were starting to turn around and look at him, no right behind him.

“We'll play jacks and Uno cards.” Blaine turned to look at the woman next to him, who was craning her neck to look behind her.

“I'll be your best friend and you'll be my Valentine.” Blaine knew the voice, but he couldn’t place it. He craned his neck to see between the seats. Blaine finally got a glimpse of the man softly singing as the line “Yes you can hold my hand if you want to.” Before he was fully conscious of it, Blaine was singing along on the next line, just like they had on Valentine’s Day. _'Cause I want to hold yours too_.

As soon as he finished singing, Blaine asked quietly, “Kurt?”

“Blaine!”

The woman sitting next to Blaine turned to look at Blaine before asking Kurt, “Would you like to sit here so you can talk?”

Blaine’s expression could be called nothing but stunned. The last person he expected to see on a plane to Ohio, and also the person he most wanted to see, was sitting behind him, standing up and moving to switch with the woman next to him, the flight attendant was shouting from the front of the plane that they needed to be seated with seatbelts fastened. Kurt apologized and sat down next to Blaine.

He smiled and said, “You look surprised.”

His words broke Blaine from the spell he was under and was able to shake his head and clear his thoughts, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you.”

“Yeah, but why are you on the plane, to Columbus Ohio, on a Thursday morning?”

“Like I said, I need to talk to you.”

Blaine looked skeptical, but nodded and added, “So talk.”

Kurt told Blaine everything. How he came home and found the flowers Blaine fixed for Troy on the table, and then how he told Troy everything, well almost everything. How amazing Troy way about the whole thing, and how terrible he felt walking over to Rachel’s. He told Blaine how much the last two weeks have sucked, and how much he missed Blaine’s friendship and whatever they had been doing with each other. How much he missed having Blaine in his life.

Blaine sat there, listening quietly for Kurt’s entire story. He was quiet when he asked, “How did you know where I was?”

Kurt turned to more fully face Blaine, “After you hung up on me, I went to the shop and met Cooper. He told me where you were going, and helped me get a seat on this flight.”

Blaine blinked, “You dropped everything to come chase me? Why?”

Kurt looked down, almost shy about his answer, “I needed you to know exactly what I meant. Exactly what I was trying to tell you, it couldn’t wait. I waited two weeks; I couldn’t wait any longer, Blaine. I haven’t stopped thinking about that afternoon.” Kurt paused, swallowed and then whispered the last part, “I’m in love with you too, Blaine.”

Blaine looked down at his shoes and was silent for a long minute. Kurt was worried that he did the wrong thing, said the wrong thing, he asked, “Can you say something?”

“I just…” Blaine trailed off, his voice was too quiet, too rough, too close to tears, he cleared his throat before continuing, “I just never thought I’d hear you say those words.”

Kurt whispered, “I mean them.”

Blaine finally turned to face Kurt, “I’m in love with you too. I’ve been in love with you since I first gave you that lavender rose over a year ago.”

Kurt blushed, he turned to look Blaine in the eye, “I think I’ve been in love with you since then too. I’m sorry, I was so stupid.”

“No.” Blaine said a little bit louder, shocking Kurt with his outburst, “Don’t apologize. No regrets. We just go forward from here.”

Kurt smiled, bright and almost ear to ear. He said slyly, “So what’s the first step?”

Blaine returned his smile and leaned in to kiss Kurt. It was awkward, the armrest digging in to his stomach and arm twisted at odd angle. Kurt pulled back entirely too soon, pulling a face. Blaine looked confused, Kurt clarified, “The armrest is awkward, and the angle is kinda weird.”

Blaine lifted the armrest and pulled Kurt to him as best as he could, kissing him soundly. Kurt deepened the kiss, licking into Blaine’s mouth. They kissed for long minutes, only stopping when the flight attendant cleared her throat to ask them what they wanted to drink. They blushed, like teenagers who got caught making out on their parents bed.

After they got some pretzels and a drink, Kurt curled up against Blaine’s arm, resting his head, and quickly falling asleep. Blaine watched him sleep, wondering how he ended up with a married, no formerly-married, gorgeous fashion designer sleeping, and drooling slightly on his arm. He never thought he would be as happy as he is right now about drool. Blaine thought about all the things he’s been with Kurt in the last year, stranger, wedding florist, florist, friend, ‘complicated friend’, friend with benefits, and ‘the other man’. If you had told him a year ago that his entire life would change with a rose, a lavender rose, he would have told you “bullshit.” He could hardly believe how much has changed, and how amazing it all has been, even despite some of the challenges.

Blaine woke Kurt up for landing. He sleepily blinked at Blaine, smiling before he said, “I like waking up to your face.”

Blaine blushed and pressed a kiss to Kurt’s cheek. They cuddled during the entire landing, ignoring the glares they got from the flight attendants when they refused to put the armrest back down.

When they reached the gate, Blaine got his bag out of the overhead bin, and the woman who gave her seat to Kurt asked him a question, and Blaine only caught Kurt’s answer, “Yeah, I raced across the city to catch this flight in hopes that he would take me back. I guess this time it did work out.”

She smiled and said, “You’re lucky. Don’t waste the opportunity.”

Kurt squeezed Blaine’s free hand, “We won’t.”

They walked hand in hand through the airport, when they got to the baggage claim, Blaine turned and asked, “Do you need to get your bag?”

“Uh… no. I don’t have anything, I came straight from your shop.”

“Right. What do you want to do?”

“What are you doing?”

“Going to my parent’s place for a couple days. Did you… Do you… Would you join me?”

Kurt nodded. “What happens next?”

Blaine looked confused, “We get a rental car and drive to their house…”

“No. Blaine, what happens next?” Kurt asked earnestly.

Blaine understood what Kurt meant. “I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out together.”


End file.
